Craig Carton claims Joe Rogan praise got his MMA show canceled

Long before Joe Rogan became the polarizing personality he is today, the podcaster and UFC analyst was apparently banned from being discussed on one network.

UFC president Dana White joined WFAN’s afternoon show with Craig Carton and Chris McMonigle in the studio earlier this week. And during the interview, Carton brought up the show he did for Spike TV in 2012, MMA Uncensored.

Despite Carton claiming the show’s viewership was strong from the start, MMA Uncensored was canceled after just one season, in part because of his praise for Joe Rogan.

“One of the reasons they decided to stop doing the show is they didn’t like the fact that I said on that show that I think the greatest color analyst in the history of sports is Joe Rogan,” Carton told White. “I said you can take Troy Aikman in football, take Tim McCarver in baseball, guys who are really good at it, I don’t think there’s ever been an analyst that is better at being an analyst and explaining things who love the sport and the people just getting into the sport than Joe Rogan.”

This rather mundane praise from Carton came in 2012, years before The Joe Rogan Experience would become a symbol in the culture wars. But Spike TV’s issue was less about Rogan and more about his affiliation with the UFC. In 2012, Spike TV was just one year removed from dumping the UFC in favor of partnering with Bellator.

According to Carton, the partnership with Bellator prompted Spike TV to bar him from discussing upcoming UFC events, allowing commentary only on previous fights. The mandate made hosting an MMA show difficult, but it was apparently still the Joe Rogan praise that did them in.

Fortunately for Carton, his media career has now outlived both Spike TV and Bellator. Spike TV rebranded as the Paramount Network in 2018, and Bellator was dissolved shortly after being acquired by the Professional Fighters League.