Joe Rogan accurately predicted the future of $ 12B UFC, because boxing promoter with live TV was confronted

Before MMA exploded in a worldwide industry of billion dollars, before the UFC was appreciated at more than $ 12 billion, and long before the TKO fusion with WWE, Joe Rogan saw it coming.

It was 2007 and the UFC still fought for respect. That year, stars like Anderson Silva” Quinton JacksonAnd Randy Couture Led the leadership. But in an ESPN studio it was not fists flying, they were words. And Rogan was in the middle of it.

The clip of the debate of the UFC color commentator with boxing promoter Lou Dazuella was recently shared by Red Corner MMA on Instagram with the caption, “Boxing is swallowed by MMA ”: In 2007, Joe Rogan came into a heated debate with boxing promoter Lou Dibella during a live broadcast on @sportscenter. 2007 was a central year for mixed martial arts, because the UFC transferred from a cult favorite to a mainstream and the debate of the Boxing Mma -Bat.” “

The interview is proof of Rogan’s passion for sport, because he had introduced the promotion in 1997, initially worked as a backstage and post-Fight Interviewer, and after Zuffa took over the company in 2001, he joined as a color commentator, who allegedly covered 15 events for free.

In the clips that are shared on Instagram, Rogan begins to state, “I certainly think it is a permanent part of sports culture. It is a much more exciting sport than all the other combat sports that are now. And that is why it is here and that is why it is the fastest growing sport in the world.”

Dibella, apparently not impressed, acknowledged that the UFC had a fan base, but a shot with, “My gamble is as long as they can keep seeing young, white guys, they will be there for a long time.” Then he completely rejected MMA, called it “another form of entertainment” and compared it with “human C ** Kfighting”, the same term used by the then senator John McCain, who was fiercely against the sport.

That was when Rogan came swinging while he shot back, “You know what that is, that’s real fighting. Do you know what boxing is? Boxing is a very limited form of fighting. It is a kind of crazy similarity to say: ‘We hate each other, we are going to fight, we are going to man from man, but we will only use our hands. What is ultimate fighting, it is the actual sport of fighting. “

Dibella tried to defend the presentation of Boxing and noted that if they advertised advertisements with “Blood Splats” as the UFC on Spike TV, the athletic committees would not enable events. But Joe Rogan Kromp. He clarified that he had nothing to do with how it was put on the market and even confessed that the most important aspect of the UFC or MMA includes the actual of the entire martial arts.

While the debate warmed up, Dibella became personal and even claimed that Rogan was not a real boxing fan, who called legends like Willie Pep, Pernell Whittaker, But Rogan shot back by showing his own love for boxing and the history that is accompanied by it.

Then came the knockout, as Joe Rogan said: “What you don’t understand is that you are a dying breed. You box boys, ‘oh, [MMA] Is human c*ck battles. What you do not understand is that your sport is swallowed. It is swallowed by a larger, more efficient, more spectacular sport. “

Fast forward to 2025, and the UFC is one of the largest sponsorships in the world, appreciated at $ 12.3 billion in 2025. Now part of TKO Group Holdings, the UFC merged with WWE in a $ 21.4 billion in 2023 that changed the fighting sports landscape forever. And earlier this year, UFC Boss Dana White Made another step that has now added more weight to the claims of Joe Rogan!

Joe Rogan’s prediction about boxing comes out when Dana White focuses his eyes on the square circle

Dana White, who once called Boxing’s sport for his multitude of problems, now gets in the ring, but not as a promoter in the traditional sense. Under the TKO Group Holdings Umbrella, and in collaboration with Saudi -Arabia Turki Alalshikh, A brand new boxing promotion has been launched. And this time White not only looks from the sidelines; He uses the UFC model to bring the same energy to the Pugilistic space.

According to the interview of the UFC boss with Ring Magazine: “Everyone knows the size – the best fight the best, you work your way up the ranking, and as soon as someone breaks in the top five [and] There is no question [about] Who is the best five boys in every weight class, they fight against it. And as soon as someone holds that belt, you don’t need three letters for the belt. The person who has that belt is the best in the world in that weight class. It is a very simple model. “

It is a sharp contrast with the current landscape in boxing, where politics and countless belts often cloud that is really the best. The new competition wants to solve all of that. Fighters have access to UFC Performance Initutes of World Class in Las Vegas, Mexico City and Shanghai. TKO will supervise the structure, media, promotion and daily activities, and rarely offers a level of organization -boxing. White will lead, alongside WWE president Nick Khan.

Critics have long made boxing because they have not done the right fights at the right time. Mayweather vs. Pacquiao came too late. Rankings are unclear. Belts are fragmented. But the Riyad season cards from Aloshikh have helped to change that story and to deliver large fights such as Fury vs. Ngannou and Joshua vs. Ngannou. Now, with this new competition, the goal is to make it standard.

The UFC does not flow alone; The reforms combat sports on a global scale. With Dana White who now steps into boxing, using the proven model of the UFC to solve a broken system, the words of Joe Rogan reflect louder than ever. What once seemed like a passionate rant now reads like a blueprint. MMA not only survived, it evolved, dominated and now it can very well box to lead to the next era!