Dana White calls out Joe Rogan for missing UFC 271 broadcast

Dana White refuted the story as to why Joe Rogan missed UFC 271.

A familiar voice was notably absent from the UFC 271 pay-per-view broadcast on Saturday night. Amid his Spotify controversy, which has kept him in the news cycle almost daily, Joe Rogan was not present at fight night this past weekend.

It wasn’t totally a last-minute change, but Dana White nonetheless didn’t seem pleased with the decision while talking to the media after UFC 271.

It was reported in the last few days before fight night that Rogan would not be on the call for the event.

According to MMA Fighting, the UFC had released a statement saying that this change had come as a result of a scheduling issue.

Throughout the night of UFC 271, the Houston crowd let their supporter of the commentator and podcaster be heard, chanting his name several times throughout the night. Shouts of, “We want Rogan” and, “Free Joe Rogan” could be heard throughout the Toyota Center. This lead the media to ask Dana White about Rogan’s absence and the scheduling conflict, which was refuted.

Dana White calls out Joe Rogan for missing UFC 271 broadcast

“There’s no conflict of schedule. Joe Rogan didn’t work tonight. Joe Rogan could’ve worked tonight. I don’t know what Joe Rogan had to do, you guys will have to ask Joe Rogan,” White told reporters, “There was no ‘Joe couldn’t work’ I know that came out in the media, it’s total bullsh*t.”

This question was immediately followed up by a reporter asking if Rogan would be back for March, to which White answered, “Whenever he can work again, he’ll be working.”

The pulling of Rogan off the commentary team came in the midst of a series of controversies surrounding The Joe Rogan Experience. Originally receiving criticism for spreading Covid-19 misinformation, the spotlight put on the podcast also uncovered several instances of Rogan using racial slurs. The episodes with these slurs in them have been removed by Spotify and Rogan, and Rogan has since come forward to publically apologize.

In Rogan’s absence, Michael Bisping stepped in alongside Jon Anik and Daniel Cormier.