Joe Rogan is glad the decision has been taken out of his hands on whether to attend UFC 249 or not, with the event being cancelled.
The 18 April fight card was originally scheduled for Brooklyn with Khabib Nurmagomedov vs Tony Ferguson in the main event, but after much chopping and changing, it was set to be held in California with Ferguson taking on Justin Gaethje.
UFC president Dana White was desperate to keep the event on, but bosses at ESPN and Disney have stepped in and asked him to ‘stand down’ with all scheduled UFC events now postponed.
Commentator and interviewer Rogan was in a quandary whether to attend the event or not, due to concerns over coronavirus, and says the decision saves him having to make a tough choice.
‘Wow, that’s interesting,’ he said on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast as news of the UFC 249 cancellation broke. ‘Well that saves me a lot of f****ng thinking.
‘I was 75% ready to go. The only thing that worried me is that if I contracted something and then I came into contact with other people.
‘What I was going to do, if I could definitely get tested, then I’d have to definitively know the results before I came back.
‘Even then you don’t know.’
Rogan sympathises with White for trying to will the event into existence, in the face of sport being cancelled across the globe due to the health crisis.
However, the cancellation certainly minimises the risk of the virus spreading futher.
‘Just looking out for human nature, if they could then they’re going to, they’re going to find a way, it’s human nature,’ Rogan continued.
‘Imagine being the president of the UFC, f**k all that, all these fights you have to make and all this pressure on you.
‘And you’re also a famous guy like Dana is, imagine being that guy. F**k that job.
‘If this was any other disease where we understood it better, I would be way more confident.
‘I was hesitant. I was leaning towards going. I’m not interested at putting myself at risk, but my real concern was contracting it and bringing it back.’
White had been bullish about continuing to put on fights, and remains hopeful that events will be scheduled again in the very near future, but could little when the hierarchy at ESPN and Disney stepped in.
‘I was ready to go on Saturday, but Disney and ESPN asked me to step down,’ White wrote. ‘I love and respect my partnership with them so I postponed the event.’
MORE: Tony Ferguson unflustered by UFC 249 cancellation: ‘I’m going to keep smiling’
MORE: UFC 249 cancelled due to coronavirus, Dana White confirms
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