Joe Rogan Apologizes To Cyborg: I Shouldn’t Have Said It
After Holly Holm’s shocking win over Ronda Rousey in the main event of November 14’s UFC 193, UFC octagon commentator Joe Rogan ruffled the feathers of many when he joked that Invicta FC featherweight champ Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino could lose weight by cutting off “her d***” in a spoof with renowned roast writer Tony Hinchcliffe.
While it drew a laugh from UFC president Dana White as he and Rogan flew back to the States from Australia, it didn’t exactly go over as well with Cyborg and a large number of MMA fans. Justino spoke out against the joke, noting that she found out from her father and was incredibly embarrassed by the words.
After some time has passed, Rogan apparently understands where she is coming from. In an interview with Bloody Elbow’s Stephie Haynes, he issued a heartfelt apology with a roundabout explanation that was predicated on the fact that he and White had had a couple drinks at the time
“Well, if I had to do it again, I definitely wouldn’t have made the joke. It was in the context of Dana [White] asking about roasting fighters, like he wanted to do a thing for Fight Pass. It’s one of the reasons why I said he should do it with Tony Hinchcliffe, because Tony is hilarious and he’s one of the best roast writers and roast performers in the country. We had a couple drinks and we were joking around about it, and I said, ‘You should roast Cyborg.’ Dana said, ‘I wouldn’t know where you would start,’ or something like that, ‘Where would you start?’ and I said, ‘Her dick.’ I shouldn’t have said it, but it’s what you say if you’re hanging around with comedians, you know? It’s what we do. Plus, I had a couple of drinks. It was just a dumb thing to do, and I certainly didn’t mean it with any malice. I honestly didn’t.”
Rogan appears genuinely sorry that he let himself get caught up in the heat of the moment, and we’ll await Cyborg’s response and/or acceptance. But the UFC has never been on good terms with the former Strikeforce champion after she left Zuffa when they bought out her former promotion.
She ended up as their employee when the UFC entered a partnership with Invicta FC anyway, and that lead to her seemingly never-ending drama of a possible cut down to bantamweight in order to face Ronda Rousey. With those plans on hold for the time being, it seems like Cyborg is left out in the cold as she heads into her next title defense against a most likely overmatched Cindy Dandois at January’s Invicta FC 15.
Will Rogan’s apology be enough for her to ever make her way to the UFC, or is there simply no spot for her as she rules a division the promotion has never had?
