Longtime UFC commentator Joe Rogan has recalled why he decided to stop competing in combat sports.
Before Rogan became a well-known entertainer and UFC broadcaster, he competed in taekwondo. Rogan rose to prominence quickly in the sport, as he won the U.S. Open Taekwondo Championship at the age of 19. He was also a four-time Massachusetts state champion.
It wouldn’t be long before Rogan decided that competing was no longer suited for him. During a recent episode of “The Joe Rogan Experience,” the beloved UFC commentator explained why he ended his fighting career early (via MMAFighting).
“I stopped fighting when I was 22,” Rogan said. “I started doing comedy at 21 and I kind of half-assed still trained and fought a few times while I was also doing comedy but I didn’t have the commitment that I had before. I’d had a series of events that led me out of wanting to compete. One of them was recognizing brain damage. Recognizing it in other people. Recognizing it in friends and then laying in bed with headaches after sparring sessions going ‘where does this lead?’ and I’m not even making any money off of this.
“I started doing boxing and kickboxing and I saw so much brain damage. I saw so much unreported brain damage. Just weird stuff. Guys would tell you the same story they just told you five minutes ago. They just tell it to you again. I realized oh these guys can’t remember that they just said this thing five minutes ago. It was like they were stoned and they weren’t. They were just starting to exhibit the beginning signs of brain damage.”
Rogan very much stuck around the fight game even though he’d no longer be throwing kicks at an opponent. He ended up getting his black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and has helped others perfect their taekwondo technique.
He even gave UFC Hall of Famer Georges St-Pierre some tips during the prime of his career.
You can share your thoughts on Joe Rogan’s comments about cutting his fighting career short below.