In the main event of Saturday’s UFC 214 event, Daniel Cormier suffered a knockout loss at the hands of Jon “Bones” Jones. The ending of the fight was a bit tough to watch, with referee John McCarthy not stopping the fight quickly enough in the eyes of many, including UFC boss Dana White. And right after, Joe Rogan interviewed Cormier, obviously dazed at the time and soon to be diagnosed with a concussion.
White wasn’t happy about it, as he told USA Today:
“They told Rogan not to do the interview with him,” White said. “Rogan did it (anyway). You have to let the guy talk. I think you have to let the guy talk.”
Cormier was punched several more times on the ground before the fight was finally halted by referee John McCarthy. White said the fight could been stopped “three, four or five punches earlier.”
Cormier’s coach also took offense, and reasonably so:
The interview angered Cormier’s coach, Javier Mendez.
“He had no business being interviewed,” Mendez said in a text message to USA TODAY Sports. “Bad move. Rogan probably feels bad.”
To his credit, Rogan expressed what’s apparently genuine contrition on social media, admitting it was a mistake:
My apologies to @dc_mma and to all of you upset by my interviewing him after the fight. In all honestly I was kind of in shock.
— Joe Rogan (@joerogan) July 30, 2017
I don't think I realized what I was doing until I actually had a mic in front of him. I've said I don't want to interview KO'ed fighters
— Joe Rogan (@joerogan) July 30, 2017
And then I wound up doing it to someone I care a great deal about. D.C. Is a great man and the whole thing was surreal.
— Joe Rogan (@joerogan) July 30, 2017
I was beating myself up about it all last night. It'll never happen again. My apologies to D.C. And to all of you.
— Joe Rogan (@joerogan) July 30, 2017
And while Rogan’s apology seems quite sincere, and White may indeed think it shouldn’t have happened, that hasn’t stopped the UFC from posting the interview to YouTube, where it’s garnered over a million (sponsored) views for the channel.
On the other hand, hey, it happened, and hiding it isn’t going to change anything, either. Maybe it’s time to institute official policy to not interview fighters who just lost via stoppage or knockout. (And stopping the fights on time should be an even bigger priority.)
