The following article was published on this day two years ago. It is presented to you in its original, unaltered form, courtesy of The MMA News Archives.
[ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED FEBRUARY 6, 2020, 9:50 PM]
Headline: Dana White Weighs In On Disagreement Between Joe Rogan & Stephen A. Smith
Author: Fernando Quiles Jr.
UFC President Dana White has given his two cents on the disagreement between Joe Rogan and Stephen A. Smith.
Stephen A. got plenty of flak for his comments on Donald Cerrone's performance against Conor McGregor at UFC 246. "Cowboy" was defeated in 40 seconds. During the post-UFC 246 edition of SportsCenter, Stephen A. said he felt Cerrone "gave up" and that his performance was "atrocious."
Rogan fired back at Stephen A. and said he shouldn't be allowed to talk about the sport of MMA. The two have gone back-and-forth since and even Conor McGregor chimed in.
White Responds To Rogan-Stephen A. Ordeal
MMAJunkie.com caught up with UFC boss Dana White, who gave his viewpoint on the situation. White said disagreements are simply bound to happen between two opinionated personalities.
“I’m not into it. Rogan is not into it. You don’t see that in the UFC. There will be times where I’m pissed off at a guy, and I’ll voice my opinion on what he did or whatever – or if a fight is really bad or somebody did something. What we don’t do is, when a fight is over and a guy loses, we don’t go in and rip them apart. It’s just not our style. We’re fans. We don’t do it. I think Rogan was reacting to that. That’s our philosophy here. For Stephen A. Smith, that’s his thing. That’s what he does. It’s going to happen. You’re always going to have people who have difference in opinions, especially when you have two very opinionated guys like Stephen A. Smith and Joe Rogan.”
Stephen A. has been discussing UFC bouts more since the promotion's deal with ESPN. While Smith has covered MMA in the past, he doesn't do so nearly as much as other sports such as basketball or football.
While many within the MMA community have been at odds with Stephen A., some have looked at the other side. There's no doubting that Stephen A. is ESPN's most popular personality and his reach to the casual sports fan is significant. If he talks about lesser-known MMA fighters, it could boost their stock. Of course, insinuating that a fighter quit can also have the opposite effect.