Color commentator Joe Rogan was last seen calling the action at UFC 227, which was headlined by UFC Bantamweight Champion TJ Dillashaw defeating Cody Garbrandt.
When it comes to the extreme weight cutting some fighters do, one thing Rogan believes is that the extreme cuts are a worse form of cheating that PED usage.
“It is stupid,” Rogan said on The Joe Rogan Experience. “What it is is sanctioned cheating. It’s sanctioned cheating and it’s cheating at a much higher scale even than PEDs. If you get two people and they both weigh 135 [pounds] but they’re both totally hydrated and one of them has been doing steroids and one of them hasn’t been doing steroids, the difference will be far less than if one person weighs in at 135 [pounds] but then balloons up to 160 [pounds] and then gets into that octagon at 160 [pounds] but there’s no PEDs involved. That’s a much greater advantage than someone whose doing some sort of testosterone thing or something. They’re compromised but the benefit of being so much larger might outweigh being compromised. Dude, if I was running s**t, I’d fix that first. That would be the first thing I would fix.”
While PED usage is obviously a violation in the MMA rule book, no rules have been implemented at this time as to label extreme weight cutting as a method of cheating.
The color commentator also believes that fighters will continue to push the limits of weight cutting for as long as possible.
“People push it, they do push it,” Rogan said. “If you give them more time, they are gonna push it. If they know that they can rehydrate longer - which is the idea, that it’s safer because you can rehydrate from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m. instead of from 4 p.m. on. I just think give them all the time they need. ONE FC has laid out the ground work. Look at what they did with their hydration tests and implement that.”
Rogan is going to be heard next this September at UFC 228, where UFC Welterweight Champion Tyron Woodley defends the gold against Darren Till.
