As marvelously as Conor McGregor performed in his 2020 victory over Donald Cerrone, much of the attention was placed on what Cerrone didn’t do as opposed to what McGregor did do. Whenever there’s a Conor McGregor fight, the A-listers come out, including the biggest names in sports media, such as ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith.
Smith opined that Cerrone looked like he quit during the loss to McGregor and was widely ridiculed for those remarks. Although later that year, Cerrone himself stated that he ‘didn’t want to be there,‘ when everything was still fresh after the fight, Smith’s remarks weren’t taken well by many within the MMA community, including Joe Rogan as you’ll see in the below article published on this day two years ago.
The following article is presented to you in its original, unaltered form, courtesy of The MMA News Archives.
On This Day Two Years Ago…
[ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED JANUARY 29, 2020, 1:20 PM]
Headline: Joe Rogan Responds To Stephen A. Smith: I Like You, But You’re Wrong
Author: Fernando Quiles Jr.
Joe Rogan has responded to Stephen A. Smith and he’s sticking to his guns.
Rogan and Smith are in a disagreement over Stephen A.’s assessment of Donald Cerrone’s performance at UFC 246. Smith called Cerrone’s efforts against Conor McGregor, “atrocious” and said that Cerrone looked to have “gave up.”
Joe Rogan Offers Response To Stephen A. Smith
Rogan expressed his displeasure with Stephen A. and said the ESPN personality should never be allowed to talk about fighting again. Smith responded by saying Rogan is wrong and offered to debate him on the matter. The UFC color commentator took to his JRE MMA Show to respond.
“Listen Stephen A. Smith, I guess I should respond. You’re a very entertaining guy. Like you a lot and 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 his shoulder into the nose. And he’s at the beginning of the round, Conor’s a f*cking super explosive guy. Super explosive, all muscle. Just f*cking pulled tight at the beginning of the fight and just, ‘Bang! Bang!’ He got off good shots and ‘Cowboy’ was confused.”
Rogan went on to disagree with the notion that Cerrone quit.
“Stephen A. Smith said that he felt like ‘Cowboy’ quit. He did not quit. He got smashed.”
Another problem Rogan has with Stephen A. is that he doesn’t think “Cowboy’s” credibility and status were taken into account with his remarks.
“It’s also who you’re talking about. You’re talking about a 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 you’re fighting guys like Darren Till and Jorge Masvidal and these f*cking animals that he’s fighting. Or Conor, and Conor literally broke his face. He broke his nose and he broke his orbital bone. So Stephen A. Smith responded and then Conor responded. Conor told him to apologize and Conor’s right.”
