Dana White once threatened to resign to save Joe Rogan’s job.
Back in 2022, Rogan came under fire when a video surfaced compiling old episodes of his podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience, where Rogan said the “N-word” several times. This, coupled with claims that Rogan promoted “dangerous misinformation” about COVID-19 on his podcast, put many companies in business with him, including the UFC, under pressure to part ways with Rogan. Ultimately, the whole incident blew over, but when there did seem to be a threat that Joe Rogan might lose his commentary job with the UFC, Dana White stepped in.
Speaking on the Lex Fridman podcast this week, Fridman recounted a story to White about how he was with Rogan when White called Rogan and told the comedian that he would resign if Rogan was ousted.
“Anybody who is with me, has been with me, knows: when you’re with me, you’re with me,” White said. “It’s a two-way street, it’s not a one-way street. I’m not one of these guys that is just going to roll over. It’s like going through COVID, I wasn’t laying any of these people [off] — some of these people have been with me for 20 years, we’re going to lay them off? This motherf***** will burn, burn before I do that to my people.
“It’s just never — none of that type of stuff is going to happen while I’m here. I can’t say what’s going to happen when I leave, but when I’m here, the people who are with me and have been with me, they know exactly what’s up. And Joe knows what’s up. And again it’s a two-way street. Joe Rogan has been very loyal to me, and I am very loyal to Joe Rogan.”
Dana White threatened to resign from UFC in defense of Joe Rogan amid 2022 controversies - MMA Fighting
