Joe Rogan has reflected on the early end to his fighting days, shedding light on why he stepped away when he did.
The longtime UFC commentator started out in Taekwondo during his teenage years, quickly making a name for himself. He held the Massachusetts full-contact state title for four straight years, and also took home a win at the U.S. Open Taekwondo Championship.
He later tried his hand at kickboxing, but chose to retire from competitive fighting at 22 to pursue a career in comedy.
Decades later, Rogan has now opened up about why he made that decision so early on.
Joe Rogan’s switch from fighting to stand-up comedy
During a recent episode of his podcast, Rogan opened up about the factors that led him to leave fighting behind at such a young age.
On a recent episode of his podcast, the 58-year-old explained that seeing the real-life impacts of brain damage up close played a big part in his decision.
He said: “I stopped fighting when I was 22. I started doing comedy at 21, and I kind of half-a–ed 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 shared an early memory from his career when he scored a heavy knockout win at just 19 years old.
The experience made him reconsider what he risked every time he stepped into competition.
“I had gotten really lucky where I never got hurt in a tournament,” Rogan continued. “Never got dropped. Never got knocked out. Never got really rocked. But I did it to a lot of people. Then I was like this is coming around. It’s only a matter of time before I get whomped. It happens. It’s going to happen.
“I’m going to fight some national champion guy, I’m going to zig when I should have zagged, and I’m going to catch a heel to my f—ing jaw, and that’s going to be a wrap. I’m going to be waking up in the hospital,” he concluded.
The 58-year-old comedian also mentioned an ACL injury he picked up during training and the lack of financial reward for fighters as other reasons for stepping away from competition.
Joe Rogan to return for UFC 326 commentary
Rogan still has a big presence in combat sports, even though it has been more than three decades since he walked away from fighting.
In his role as a UFC commentator, he has remained close to the action, covering many of the sport’s biggest events over the years.
The 58-year-old did not make the trip to Sydney for UFC 325, choosing not to cover international events these days.
But he is expected to be part of the broadcast team for UFC 326 on March 7.
The card will be headlined by a BMF title fight between Max Holloway and Charles Oliveira at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
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