Feb 22, 2012 - 7:55:02 AM

By: Frank Hyden, MMATorch contributor

Ed. Note: The opinions contained in this post are solely those of the writer, and do not represent the thoughts of MMATorch as a whole

Quinton "Rampage" Jackson recently had some comments to Fighter's Only about UFC commentator Joe Rogan. Rampage criticized Rogan for being biased towards jiu-jitsu guys. Rampage had this to say about Rogan's bias, "You can hear it in his voice. Whenever a guy is a jiu-jitsu fighter he's playing rusty trombone. I don't think you should talk down, you should be neutral." Rampage also said that he wants to tell Rogan to "shut the f*** up sometimes".

I'm personally not a fan of Joe Rogan as a commentator, I've made that clear in the past. I do think he's biased, but it's natural for a little bias to bleed into commentating. It's obvious that someone has talked to him about not being as biased, though, because he used to say some really absurd stuff in defense of jiu-jitsu. I remember one time Rogan said that even the most boring jiu-jitsu is more exciting than the bottom of the 9th inning in a tied World Series game, or something to that effect. I don't remember the exact quote, but that's a decent paraphrasing of what he said.

The absurdity of that statement can't be overstated. I am not a baseball fan, I find the season to be way too long and the games don't have enough action for me. However, I will readily admit that the bottom of the 9th in a tied game, especially a World Series game, is full of drama and excitement and tension, much more so than run-of-the-mill jiu-jitsu.

Jiu-jitsu and groundfighting - or submission-fighting, whatever you want to call it - can be incredibly exciting, there's no question. When guys are pulling off great reversals and counters, it can be great. However, it can also be very boring at times. The same can be said for boxing or any other stand-up. There have been times where I watched a fight that was contested entirely standing up that I thought was extremely boring.

There was a wrestling commentator by the name of Tony Schiavone. He had a long career with many companies, but the one most probably remember him from was WCW. Schiavone's biggest problem was that he was constantly talking everything up, to the point that you couldn't help but tune him out. Every week had "the biggest main event in WCW history." That kind of commentating detracts from the product, and I feel that's what Joe Rogan does. Everytime a UFC fight goes to the ground, Rogan starts scrambling to find ways to make the action seem more exciting.

Nearly every time I watch a UFC event it's with several other people. What happens a lot of times is a fight goes to the ground, Rogan starts amping it up, and we're all sitting there wondering what the he's getting so excited for? He's overselling things. To be fair, Rogan does the same thing with striking and other areas. There have been numerous times where a guy throws a headkick that the other guy checks with his arm, and Rogan acts like he got hit with a sledgehammer. He starts screaming stuff like, "Oh, he's really hurt, Mike!" when both guys are fine and the fight continues. So it's not just the jiu-jitsu he oversells, it's everything.

I totally agree with Rampage, I don't think there's any question that Rogan is biased towards jiu-jitsu. I don't think that alone makes him a bad commentator, though. Adding in the other things I discussed, though, and I feel it does. I'm not saying Rogan is a bad guy, I've never met him, I don't know him, I just think he's a bad commentator.

I appreciate Joe Rogan's enthusiasm for his job, I think that plays a large role in things. I would probably rather have a guy who's enthusiastic but flawed over a guy who's skilled but doesn't seem to care as much. I just think you can have a guy who's enthusiastic and skilled.


Comments and suggestions can be e-mailed to me at hydenfrank@gmail.com

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