When Joe Rogan defended UFC in a 1998 interview as host Conan O'Brien wondered if MMA had "people's respect"

Joe Rogan once defended the UFC back in 1998 during an interview with Conan O'Brien.

The UFC has seen a meteoric rise in popularity over the past two decades and is definitely the face of MMA. While it is considered to be one of the most popular sporting organizations in the world, this wasn't the case when the promotion first started back in 1993.

The UFC and the sport of MMA, in general, were criticized for being too dangerous and had a hard time being accepted by the masses. Moreover, people wondered if the sport could ever people's respect. One such incident happened when Rogan who joined the promotion in 1997 as a backstage interviewer was questioned about the same.

During an interview with Conan O'Brien in 1998, the host of the show claimed that by mentioning that the fights happen inside of a cage, the sport loses respect. To which Rogan responded by saying:

"Why? That way you can't get away, that's the whole purpose of it. They're great athletes, Olympic gold medalists, world jiu-jitsu champions and boxers. It's all just like a combination. Martial arts, there have always been questions about martial arts like what if a karate guy fought a judo guy and what the Ultimate Fighting Championship did is they said, 'Let's find out'."

Catch Joe Rogan's comments in the clip below:

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Joe Rogan praises Artur Beterbiev for his impressive performance against Callum Smith

Artur Beterbiev put his WBO, IBF, and WBC light heavyweight championships online against Callum Smith this past weekend. Going into the fight as a massive favorite, Beterbiev outclassed Smith and became the first man to floor the latter as he secured a TKO finish in the seventh round. By doing so, the Russian-Canadian fighter also maintained his 100% finish rate.

Hours after Beterbiev's victory, Joe Rogan took to Instagram to congratulate and praise him for his performance. While expressing his desire to see the Russian-Canadian fighter be a part of super fights, Rogan said:

"This guy drags people to hell like no other. @arturbeterbiev goes 20-0 with 20 knockouts and becomes the first guy to floor @callumsmith23. I hope he gets the super fights he deserves before he retires, and I hope people appreciate how extraordinarily terrifying his style and skills are."