Joe Rogan says UFC contract complete in August, unsure if he'll return to commentary

Joe Rogan

Joe Rogan’s days as a UFC commentator could be numbered.

The longtime UFC commentator and analyst, one of the most popular personalities in the sport, recently revealed his contract with the organization is set to expire in August – and he’s non-committal about whether he’ll re-up.

“My contract’s up in August. I might leave in August,” Rogan said on “The Joe Rogan Experience” podcast. “It’s possible. I like doing sh-t that scares me. I like doing stuff – I like taking chances in that I like walking away from things. I like doing that. I like experiencing new things. You open up new doors, your mind starts firing in a different way. I’m not a big fan of doing the same sh-t over and over and over again.

“Like when I do stand-up comedy, I have to go to different places. I like to go to weird spots. I’ll do a weird open mic night in the middle of f-cking nowhere. I think it’s really important. I like to go to new places. I like to travel. I like to just get in my car and drive places and get out of my car and walk around and check out places.”

Rogan has been a voice related to the UFC for more than a decade. He worked for the organization as a backstage interviewer for a brief period starting at UFC 12 in February 1997. He eventually parted ways with the company, but ultimately returned when Zuffa purchased the product in 2001 and UFC President Dana White persuaded him into a cageside commentary gig.

At one time, Rogan would commentate every UFC event along with his broadcast partner Mike Goldberg, but as the UFC has expanded his role has been refined into working mainly pay-per-views and FOX-televised events.

Rogan said he hasn’t necessarily lost his passion for the job. He is just tempted to move on and place more attention on other projects like his popular podcast, stand-up comedy career, and supplement company Onnit.

“You’ve got to experience different things in life. I’ve been doing the UFC for a long time,” Rogan said. “I will never stop being a UFC fan. That’s not going to happen. I love the sport. But there’s probably going to come a time where I don’t do commentary anymore, and it might be sooner than later. Or it might not. I mean, August might roll around and I might say, ‘You know what man, I f-cking love this, let’s just keep doing this.’ But I might not, too.”

With more than eight months remaining until Rogan’s contract is complete, the 48-year-old still has plenty of time to make a formal decision about his future. But judging from his attitude, it seems he’ll have a difficult choice on his hands one way or the other.

“It’s not that I don’t love it. It’s just that I like doing a lot of other sh-t, too,” Rogan said. “I don’t think my love for MMA will ever die off, but it’s very possible I won’t want to do it as a career sometime in the future.”

For more on the UFC’s upcoming schedule, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.