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'Big' John McCarthy believes Joe Rogan's contribution to the sport of MMA has been immense. The 58-year-old said Rogan has played an instrumental role in helping the UFC and MMA achieve exponential growth.
Rogan has been on the receiving end of media flak lately. He is being criticized for failing to show up at the UFC's pay-per-view cards, his lack of research during commentary and his political opinions.
Speaking up for Joe Rogan, McCarthy said it was the UFC color commentator who exposed MMA to the general audience.
"All those people who're saying (Joe Rogan) doesn't know film work or he doesn't do any background on the fighter or anything like that, first off, what he does is what he has done throughout his entire time of being the color commentator for the UFC. If you're gonna be honest about what Joe Rogan has done for the UFC, he has helped grow the UFC in an incredible fashion by being the color commentator," McCarthy said on Weighing In podcast.
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Catch McCarthy's comments on Joe Rogan below:
When the UFC became mainstream enough to draw the attention of fight fans, several boxing promoters downplayed MMA and the Dana White-led promotion in live debates for its "ruthlessness."
As the UFC's spokesperson, news channels often invited Rogan to issue rebuttals. According to McCarthy, Rogan's coherent takes while debating such boxing promoters educated many fans about MMA.
Watch one such debate below:
John McCarthy clears misconception that Joe Rogan is a "right winger"
John McCarthy believes Joe Rogan gets criticized because people think he aligns with the right-wing of the American political spectrum. However, the former UFC referee claimed Rogan's ideologies reflect that he belongs more to the center-left.
"You may not like his politics, but I'm telling you right now, the guy was way, way, far of the center to the left but everyone says he's a right-winger. You are nuts! He's all for all these things, gay rights, all this stuff but because he says he doesn't want to see a transgender person fight in MMA against a female who hasn't had to take a lot of time in changing over... that's just him being smart."
