UFC commentator Joe Rogan evaluates Bellator, ONE Championship and Golden Boy MMA

It’s an exciting time to be an MMA fan. While the UFC remains the biggest promotion on the planet, other promotions such as Bellator MMA and ONE Championship are gaining a real footholds, while new promotions like Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy MMA continue to pop up. UFC color commentator Joe Rogan has taken notice of these promotions.

Speaking on a recent Fight Companion episode of his popular Joe Rogan Experience podcast, he gave his take on a number of the UFC’s competitors.

https://youtu.be/d7eQcuBRnYA

First, he spoke on ONE Championship, mentioning it as a potential future home of disgruntled UFC women’s featherweight champion Cris Cyborg.

“They’re grabbing a lot of people now,” Joe Rogan said of the Singapore-based promotion. “It’s really interesting to me.”

“They got Eddie Alvarez, he just went over there,” he added. “They got Demetrious ‘Mighty Mouse’ Johnson, he just went over there. And they’re looking to expand their roster, and I think they’re also looking to expand into the Western marketplace. You know, they have that app. You can get the app and watch the fights on your phone.”

Joe Rogan also gave his take on Bellator MMA when asked by his guest Eddie Bravo how the San Monica based promotion is faring.

“Bellator is not doing as well as the UFC, but they’re doing well,” he said. “They’re on the Paramount Network, they get pretty good ratings, they’re developing stars.”

Finally, Rogan also gave a quick assessment of boxing promoter Oscar De La Hoya’s foray into the world of MMA — mind you this was roughly 12 hours before Saturday night’s Tito Ortiz vs. Chuck Liddell rematch, so it’s possible his opinion has changed since.

“I don’t think his love is MMA,” he said of Oscar De La Hoya. “His love is boxing. He’s doing this because it’s a good money-making venture.”

This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 11/26/2018.