Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) color commentator Joe Rogan’s comments on ONE Championship have been well received.
It’s clear that the higher ups at ONE Championship put emphasis on the “honor” of mixed martial arts. The promotion doesn’t advocate for trash talking or drama. During an edition of his “JRE MMA” podcast, Rogan explained why he likes the way ONE Championship presents itself (via BJPenn.com):
“I appreciate the way ONE FC handles things. They just concentrate on fighters being honorable and fighting their best, and fighting the best fighters they can fight. They don’t emphasize that s**t talking at all. They emphasize the martial arts aspects of it.”
ONE Championship CEO Responds To Joe Rogan
In an interview with BJPenn.com, ONE Championship CEO Chatri Sityodtong responded to Rogan’s praise:
“I’m a huge Joe Rogan fan. Obviously, he’s a lifelong martial artist too, a taekwondo blackbelt, a BJJ blackbelt. I have the utmost respect for him. I think because he’s a lifelong martial artist, he understands the deep authenticity of martial arts and he totally understands what we’re trying to do at ONE Championship, and what we’ve already achieved at ONE Championship in terms of mixed martial arts. It’s the sport of mixed martial arts done the right way, in terms of martial arts values. Honor, respect and humility, none of the trash talking or violence or anger.”
ONE Championship made waves with the signings of Eddie Alvarez and Sage Northcutt as well as trading Ben Askren for Demetrious Johnson. “Mighty Mouse” had a successful ONE debut, while Alvarez was stopped in the opening frame in his debut. Northcutt will make his promotional debut on May 17.
