When Wesley Snipes almost fought Joe Rogan in the UFC to clear off his $23.5M debt

Hollywood star Wesley Snipes almost had a UFC fight with Joe Rogan to clear off his IRS debt.

Despite a prolific acting career over the '80s and '90s, the IRS ordered Snipes to pay $23.5 million in outstanding taxes for the years 2001 to 2006 in the late 2000s. This led to a three year prison sentence during the trial of which Snipes tried to settle his dues by offering only $850,000 in cash.

US Tax Court Judge Kathleen Kerrigan declined the offer, upholding the IRS’ decision for Snipes to pay $ 9.5 million, which was still way lesser than the initial demand of $23.5 million. Plotting a big payday, Wesley Snipes called out UFC color commentator Joe Rogan in 2010.

While Snipes had initially planned to callout fellow actor Jean-Claude Van Damme, it was UFC exec Campbell McClaren who reportedly suggested Joe Rogan's name. Recalling the episode, Rogan told comedian Nate Bargatze on his JRE podcast in 2016:

“He’s like, ‘nobody’s gonna pay to see you and Jean-Claude Van Damme fight.' You have to fight someone who was ‘current.’ So he said, ‘would you fight Joe Rogan? And he said, ‘Yup, let’s do it.’ So they came to me, and I went, ‘How much money?’ And then they started talking, then I said, ‘OK, let’s see what happens.'”

Catch Rogan's comments below:

Wesley Snipes vs. Joe Rogan: JRE host predicts potential outcome

UFC commentator Joe Rogan has trained in various martial arts disciplines over the course of his life. Apart from destroying heavy bags with spinning back kicks, the JRE host also knocked his opponent out cold using the same move at the age of nineteen.

Meanwhile Wesley Snipes also reportedly has a 5th-degree black belt in Shotokan karate and a 2nd-degree black belt in Hapkido. However, Rogan is confident that he would have 'choked the f*** out' of the Hollywood actor in an MMA fight. It was seemingly this realization that made Snipes back out. The UFC commentator further said on his podcast:

“I was already a brown belt by then, and I just knew what happened when a brown belt fights a white belt. I just can’t imagine. I know how to stand up, and even if I wasn’t good at striking anymore like I was when I was a kid, I’m good enough to know what to not do and where to not be. And if I get a hold of someone who doesn’t know jiu-jitsu, I’m pretty sure I’m choking the f*ck out of them... He realised I was going to choke the sh*t out of him.”