While the UFC community is still buzzing about Monday’s brawl between light heavyweight champion Jon Jones and challenger Daniel Cormier, the voice of the sport doesn’t think highly of what he saw.
MMAFighting.com reports that Commentator Joe Rogan opened up about the incident on his podcast and said that the press conference melee will inevitably be used against the sport.
“It was ridiculous,” Rogan said. “This can’t happen. You can’t do that. This is real bad for the sport. It’s real bad. It’s real bad for public perception. It’s a weapon to be used against MMA. It’s unfortunate.”
Rogan noted the differences between the way Jones and Cormier handled their business versus the manner in which noted rivals Ronda Rousey and Miesha Tate were able to still get their point across but not embarrass themselves in the process.
“I think it’s ridiculous. It’s ridiculous. Some of it’s gamesmanship, but it’s just so bad for the image of the sport. It’s pretty rare, but that’s a high profile fight. I mean, Ronda Rousey and Miesha Tate got head to head in each other’s faces and it was pretty hot, right? But they were professional about it. They didn’t do anything about it. These guys were not professional. You can’t do that. You can’t grab each other and f***ing slap.”
Rogan went on to explain how it’s imperative that onlookers not begin to associate street violence for the violent form of competition that takes place inside the Octagon.
Despite his issues with their actions, Rogan did say that the incident would compel more fans to tune into the main event.
“It’s fun for people to watch. Part of me, I have two ways of looking at it. Part of me is like, ‘That’s bad for the sport’ but part of me is like, ‘How do I feel about it, though?’ Does it bum me out? No. No, it doesn’t make me upset. I’m not upset. I’m looking forward to watching this fight even more, now. Look, would I have liked it to not happen? Absolutely. Absolutely. I wish that they were very professional about this. They don’t need to do that.”
UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones defends his title to Daniel Cormier Sept. 27 at UFC 178 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
