SUMMARY
- Joe Rogan is a legendary UFC commentator.
- He was a sensational kickboxer and taekwondo practitioner in his teens.
Joe Rogan has the biggest podcast in the world. His “The Joe Rogan Experience” averages over 11 million listeners per week according to a report from Forbes. Hence, it is not a surprise that famous personalities from all fields regularly appear on his podcast. Recently, Dwayne Johnson, the Hollywood superstar, and WWE legend, had a long-form conversation with the 56-year-old.
During their nearly three-hour podcast, Dwayne Johnson made a major revelation about his career choices. As he was starting out, The Rock was unhappy with his pay in WWE. Hence, the pro-wrestling legend almost jumped over to the once-famous MMA organization, PRIDE. But that was not the only bombshell revelation from the podcast. The host, Joe Rogan, also opened up on why he decided to stop fighting.
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The stand-up comedian and actor added that he started martial arts because it boosted his confidence. Once he got hooked on the art of fighting, it became a huge part of his life. It boosted his confidence massively as he started winning martial arts competitions on a regular basis. Rogan also added that he taught a taekwondo class at the University of Boston at only age of 19.
Joe Rogan gave up on his fighting career due to brain damage
Joe Rogan even compromised his social life to invest all his time into taekwondo and kickboxing. But, at a certain point, he had to give it all up for a heartbreaking reason. Fighters are known for absorbing an ungodly amount of punishment to their heads, which in turn, gives them brain damage. Rogan was not different.
Speaking to Dwayne Johnson on JRE episode #2063, Rogan added, “First of all, I started kickboxing. I wanted to start kickboxing, (and) that’s when I started getting like brain damage, and I was realizing, I was getting brain damage.” He continued, “Laying in bed with headaches after sparring and there’s no money in it. And, I was like ‘What am I doing?”
At the age of just 21, Joe Rogan was unhappy with the direction his career was heading. During that period, Rogan also started doing stand-up comedy as well. Although he thought fighting and participating in major tournaments would be possible, his health came first and the UFC commentator decided to give up on his aspirations to attain glory in the field of combat sports.
Rogan said, “The brain damage thing was scary because I knew quite a few people around me that from the time I was 16 till the time I was 21, I saw them deteriorate. Like noticeably slurring their words, forgetful, not knowing what you were talking about like moments ago and I knew that’s coming and I knew was coming for me.”
Although his dreams of becoming a fighting champion did not come to fruition, Joe Rogan did live his dreams of being involved in the highest form of combat sports through UFC. While the podcaster has reduced his working dates, Rogan still shows up for the major UFC PPVs and very much enjoys his time calling the fights. Even UFC President Dana White added previously that Rogan’s presence adds extra star power whenever he is on UFC broadcast.