Joe Rogan said he would not have let the White House UFC fights go ahead outdoors, arguing that championship bouts should be held in a controlled environment instead of on the White House lawn. He said Friday that if he were running the UFC, he would have said no, because he does not want a fighter to win or lose because it is muggy outside.
That view matters now because the White House match is expected on Sunday, and Rogan said he expects to be there. He made the comments on The Joe Rogan Experience while speaking with Cameron Hanes, as weather concerns in D.C. have started to hang over the event.
Rogan said storms, wind, humidity and bugs could all affect the fights. He warned that the outside conditions would change grappling and make the athletes sweat to the point that the action could look like “hot oil wrestling.” He also said the sweat and the bugs would be a problem, and that the setting made no sense for a championship card.
The fight is planned outdoors under a giant new structure called The Claw, part of the White House UFC setup tied to Donald Trump’s 80th birthday plans. The structure is meant to cover the lawn event, but Rogan’s point was that even with that kind of cover, the setting is still outside, and that is the part he objects to most.
He was careful not to sound hostile to the idea itself. Rogan said he was “not positive either,” but still said he would prefer the event be canceled and moved indoors. His concern, he said, is for the athletes, because a fighter’s career is short and a loss can be devastating if the conditions are not right.
That leaves the event in an awkward place: it is still expected to go ahead on Sunday, but the weather may yet decide how much of the spectacle survives. Rogan’s criticism is not about the idea of the show; it is about whether the White House UFC can fairly stage world championship fights in weather that could turn the outcome into a matter of heat, sweat and luck.
