Joe Rogan divides opinion with bizarre method of interviewing fighters after matches
Claire Reid
Featured Image Credit: UFC
Joe Rogan’s unusual style of speaking to MMA fighters before they're back on their feet inside the Octagon has long been a conversation point for fans of the sport.
The commentator has pulled off numerous interviews with fighters in the immediate aftermath of their bout - one of which saw him speaking to Conor McGregor while sitting on the ground with his broken leg at UFC 264.
The interview drew a fair amount of attention from fans as McGregor - fresh from his loss against Dustin Poirier - didn’t hold back, giving a frustrated and emotional response to Rogan’s questions.
Afterwards, McGregor’s head coach John Kavanagh shared his thoughts on the technique, and it seems he wasn’t impressed.
Speaking in July last year, he said: “His foot is literally hanging down. It's a clean fracture on the fibula and tibia. It went straight through. It's hanging down. You can only imagine the rush of hormones and what's going to be going through your body at that moment.
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“Then someone bends down and sticks a microphone in your face: 'How are you feeling right now?' It's like, guys – come on.
"When has he never not been gracious at the end? Let's get backstage, let's get a proper assessment by a doctor and let's get an X-ray. Let's say I was pretty miffed at that idea of shoving a microphone in someone's face at that stage.”
Fans were equally surprised, with one posting: “Joe Rogan, I love your work but please don't interview emotional fighters that have just got off the floor.”
Another said: “Crazy Conor is fun, sat down with a broken leg doing an interview with Joe Rogan on the floor... Not so fun. What a weird night.”
But others actually thought it was a pretty interesting way of doing things, writing: “Joe Rogan sitting down on the floor to interview Conor McGregor is the funniest thing ever wow.”
While someone else pointed out that a similar lying-down interview from Rogan - this time with Sean O’Malley - didn’t attract the same level of attention.
“When Sean O’Malley gave Joe Rogan a post fight interview injured and on the FLOOR, did fans get upset too?” they asked.
However you feel about it, Rogan has since explained it was actually McGregor who wanted to speak to him.
On his Joe Rogan Experience podcast, he said: “People are like, ‘why did you interview him?’ He actually brought me over.
“He goes ‘Come over here lad, let’s have a podcast.’ He said, ‘Come on Joe let’s have a f***ing podcast’.
He, like, asked me to sit down next to him. I was like, ‘How am I going to do this? I feel like I should just get something out of him.’
“Even if you recognise the fact that he is emotionally charged up, this is just him expressing himself while he was emotionally charged up.”
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