Joe Rogan's commentary has come in for criticism in recent times, with many feeling that the former 'Fear Factor' presenter picks his favourites before the fight and then skews the viewers' opinions with his analysis on the fight.
Most recently, former UFC bantamweight champ TJ Dillashaw pointed the finger at Rogan following his decision loss to Dominic Cruz when he posted on Instagram in the days that followed the fight.
@joerogan might need to go back and watch it again to hear how biased he was commentating, I agree with you it was a good close fight but think you picked Cruz before the fight started.
But Dillashaw was not the first, nor last to ask questions of Rogan. Even Cathal Pendred claimed to be annoyed after re-watching his one of his fights, but now the man himself has given a frank explanation for what some fighters may feel that way.
I certainly try to be (unbiased). I had this conversation with Cowboy Cerrone. He's like, ‘You can be biased if you like somebody,' and I told Cowboy, ‘Dude, I'm biased for you.' Sometimes fighters will think that you're biased against them, because the other person's won, and they listened to the commentary and think that you were biased.
If I were going to be biased, it would be towards friends of mine like Cowboy or Ronda or Mighty Mouse or Ian McCall. Ian McCall is a good friend of mine; I love that dude. I am friends with a lot of these guys and I call their fights, and that could certainly present problems, but if it was really gonna present a problem, it would've been with the Rousey/Holm fight, but I made sure it didn't.
Rogan was then asked about the criticism that he receives via social media, not just for his commentary but also his work as a stand-up comedian, and he revealed that he thought that online criticism helped him do his job better.
I should point out that the reason I've gotten better in my commentary is because of criticism from fans on the internet. I appreciate that and in some sense, I owe them for helping me develop as a commentator. That's just a fact.
Even the people that have said shitty things, if they don't make any sense, they don't hurt. The only time that someone says something about you, the only time those things actually sting, is when they make a good point. You're like, ‘Wow! That guy just made a good point.'
Commentators will always divide opinion, it's human nature.
Fighters are not going to enjoy listening to someone describing their loss, and neither will the fans who support them, but at least Rogan has admitted that he can let his personal relationships with those competing affect what he says.
He's come a long way from tasking people with eating bull testicles as quickly as possible.
