Joe Rogan Responds To Stephen A. Smith: MMA Isn’t Your Wheelhouse

The back-and-forth between longtime UFC commentator Joe Rogan and ESPN broadcaster Stephen A. Smith continues.

Smith was working the UFC 246 pay-per-view (PPV) event earlier this month, where Donald Cerrone was finished by Conor McGregor in 40 seconds. McGregor quickly broke Cerrone’s orbital and nose before putting “Cowboy” away. In the post-fight show, Smith suggested he was “disgusted” with Cerrone’s performance, and believes he quit. This sparked outrage from the mixed martial arts (MMA) community, and a ton of backlash towards Smith.

Rogan took to his podcast to suggest Smith doesn’t belong on UFC broadcasts, as takes such as his on Cerrone’s defeat are bad for the sport. Smith responded in a video by saying he’s happy to debate Rogan on the fight and his credentials to talk MMA, and that Rogan was “wrong on this one.” Now, in a new podcast with former lightweight champion Frankie Edgar, Rogan has responded once again. Rogan explained exactly how McGregor stunned Cerrone so early in the fight with his shoulder strikes.

“I was upset at Stephen A. Smith and he made a video responding to me,” Rogan said. “Listen, Stephen A. Smith, I guess I should respond, right? You’re a very entertaining guy, I like you a lot, I appreciate the props you gave me in that video, but you’re wrong. Cowboy got f*cked up with those shoulders in the clinch, he had Conor’s arms tied up, and they’re in tight spaces.

“Conor dips low, and slams this bone of a shoulder into the nose and he’s – the beginning of the round, Conor is a super explosive guy, super explosive, all muscle just pulled tight at the beginning, and then just, bang! Bang! He got off good shots and Cowboy was confused.”

Rogan then explained why it’s ridiculous to suggest that Cerrone, one of the most decorated fighters in UFC history, quit after having his nose and orbital bones broken. He added that MMA isn’t Smith’s wheelhouse, while maintaining that he’s entertaining when talking about other sports.

“He’s got blood pouring out of his nose, so he’s not breathing out of his nose now,” Smith said. “And then all of a sudden he’s like ‘F*ck my nose is already f*cked up and he hasn’t even punched me yet. It was unusual. I can see if someone has a peripheral understanding of the sport, and someone goes, ‘Come on, man.’ Or even guys like Mike Bisping, Mike Bisping was like ‘F*cking shoulder strikes? Come on, shoulder strikes?’ But, that said, Mike Bisping is, without a doubt, one of the toughest human beings that has ever walked the face of the panet. If he lost an ear, he’d be like ‘Oh you have another ear!’ He doesn’t give a f*ck! He fought a giant chunk of his career against the best fighters of the world, including winning a title win one eye.

“”Michael Bisping is a f*cking dyed in the wool savage. So if he’s like ‘Ah, just shoulder strikes -‘ That said, the shoulder strikes didn’t end the fight. The shoulder strikes definitely got him off on the wrong foot. Then, Cowboy threw a kick to Conor’s arms, and then Conor countered with a head-kick, rocked Cowboy bad. Rocked him, you see his legs go, and then Conor hits him with pistons. He hits so hard. He broke his f*cking orbital bone. But Stephen A. Smith said he felt like Cowboy quit. He did not quit. He got smashed and hit. It’s also who you’re talking about.

“You’re talking about the guy who has the most fights in the UFC, the most finishes in the UFC, the most head-kick knockouts in the UFC, the most bonuses in the UFC – Cowboy is a f*cking legend. He is as tough as they come. He’s lost before, every human can lose. Especially if you’re fighting guys like Darren Till and Jorge Masvidal and these f*cking animals that he’s fighting. He’s fighting the cream of the crop. Or Conor. And Conor broke – literally broke his face. He broke his nose, and he broke his orbital bone. So Stephen A. Smith responded, and then Conor responded, and Conor told him to apologize.

“And Conor’s right. I think the problem is that Stephen A. Smith, who is a very entertaining guy, and is very knowledgable about other sports, this is not his wheelhouse, and also that style of dismissing athletes and putting people down, that’s how he made his name. It’s fun to listen to, he’s a fun guy to listen to. He talks great sh*t.”

Finally, Rogan said Cerrone simply was bested by a guy who rises to the occasion in big fights, something that Cerrone has struggled with throughout his career.

“I can see how Stephen Smith would not think that that was effective,” Rogan said. “But for me, it was clearly effective. They were hard shots, there was power behind it, there’s a lot of explosion. Conor dipping his level and slamming into it, it was kind of crazy. The head-kick, come one, he got beat down. He got beat down and smashed by a guy who rises to the occasion.

“Look, Cowboy has had problems in the past with these really big fights. He looked nervous as f*ck, and he talks about it openly. There was a video that they played – which I don’t think they should’ve played – before the fight, he had to hear that. So they play in a video of him describing how nervous he gets before fights and how he – also how he’s kind of faking it. He’s pretending like he’s fine, but inside I’m freaking the f*ck out. They played that before he fought and I’m like ‘Why are you doing that?’ I was saying ‘F*ck he does not need to hear this.'”

What do you think about Rogan’s response to Smith?