Joe Rogan responds to backlash surrounding Cyborg vs. Spencer commentary

Joe Rogan gave his two cents on the Cris Cyborg controversy on the latest episode of his popular Joe Rogan Experience podcast.

Rogan discussed the topic with his guest, former UFC heavyweight and fellow podcaster Brendan Schaub.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIroVHH2IIA

Cris Cyborg won the last fight on her UFC contract against Felicia Spencer at UFC 240, which separated her from a December knockout loss to Amanda Nunes. Despite the strong performance, many fans were annoyed with the UFC’s alleged favouritism of Felicia Spencer. That included Rogan’s commentary, which many fans felt was biased.

Joe Rogan cleared the air on his podcast.

“There was a thing with the Spencer fight,” he said. “People were saying ‘oh, it was biased commentary’. No, it wasn’t. That girl survived the onslaught, it was her eight or ninth pro fight!” he said.

“See that doesn’t impress me…Cyborg beat the f*** out of her, that fight wasn’t close, but the narrative was how tough she was,” Schaub responded. “But Cyborg beat the rag-doll out of this girl.”

“And she (Felicia Spencer) cut Cyborg’s face wide open too.” added Rogan.

Brendan Schaub was not as impressed by Spencer as Rogan was, because the fight was a one-sided victory and she couldn’t match Cyborg’s performance.

The pair went back and forth on the topic, however, with Joe Rogan eventually acknowledging that it wasn’t all that close of a fight.

“(Spencer) doesn’t have striking, she doesn’t have the power to keep Cyborg off her,” he said.

After this UFC 240 fight, Dana White decided to let Cris Cyborg go without the chance to match any of the offers she will inevitably receive from other promotions. This news came after mounting tension between the pair reached its peak. Cyborg accused White of bullying her and repeatedly asked for a rematch with Amanda Nunes. On the flip-side, White accused Cyborg of lying about wanting the rematch and becoming a ‘nightmare to work with’. Cyborg’s camp then posted a doctored video of Dana White implying that Dana White was lying, which she later apologized for.

Speaking on the podcast, Joe Rogan and Brendan Schaub talked about Cyborg’s representation in the UFC and how it might have influenced her departure from the UFC.

“Cyborg is the nicest person,” Rogan said. “I don’t think she’s a bad person, but I think her management and the way they’ve handled things have completely f**ked her. I think her going to battle with the UFC was the worst thing, and it’s not her.”

Finally, Joe Rogan also addressed Cyborg’s calls for an apology from him. The UFC commentator made some unsavory comments about the fighter in the past, but says he says he already apologized to her for that.

“I apologized to her,” he said. “Me and her, no one around, face-to-face. And I took a photo afterwards, there’s a photo of me and her on my Instagram.’

‘I said ‘hey, I’m sorry about the jokes, I promise no more jokes. I am actually a fan of yours and I want you to succeed in the UFC and I wish you the best of luck.”

What do you think of these comments from Joe Rogan?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 8/7/2019.