Joe Rogan is perhaps the bravest man on the planet. Despite earning paychecks from the UFC, the man doesn’t shy away from helping the company’s rivals. During his recent Joe Rogan Experience Podcast with Head of Fighter Operations for PFL Europe, Dan Hardy, the long-time UFC color commentator asked Hardy to capitalize on the biggest mistake UFC CEO Dana White is making. 

“Maybe you guys should start a f—king Muay Thai…,” Rogan told Hardy. “UFC is f—king up with that. I sent Dana all these different fights. I sent him … Asadula Imangazaliev. Holy s—t, is that guy good. I’m like, look at this. This is what people want to see, man. Like everybody boos when the fights go to the ground if it gets boring. This s—t’s never boring. 

“Yeah, maybe you guys should pick up the slack. That might be the move, man. That might be what differentiates. Look how big it is with ONE. It’s essentially become most of their fights now… And everybody knows what’s going on. A kick to the face is a kick to the face.”

While Joe Rogan makes a great point about hiring Muay Thai fighters, the reality is slightly different. The organization does have or has had in the past fighters who practice or train Muay Thai. Think José Aldo, Valentina Shevchenko, Rafael Fiziev, Edson Barboza, Joanna Jędrzejczyk, Khalil Rountree Jr., Carlos Prates, and Anderson Silva. 

But the problem might not be on the promotion’s side. And rather on the fighters’ side. MMA takes more than Muay Thai. Fighters are expected to learn other disciplines, so they stand a chance of winning. While a kick to the head against a wrestler could work, a good wrestler knows how to avoid that and still dominate. 

Think about the Demetrious Johnson vs. Rodtang Jitmuangnon fight under the ONE Championship banner in 2022. Despite Rodtang’s ferocious and aggressive fighting style, Johnson submitted him when the MMA portion of the mixed rules fight began. So, unless UFC is willing to start a separate competition specifically for Muay Thai, it’s not very beneficial for Muay Thai fighters.

But Dana White’s reasons are different.

When the CEO appeared on the Spinnin Backfist MMA Show with Robbie Fox, he explained why he would never try to promote kickboxing or Muay Thai.

He said, “Joe Rogan has been all over me about this. He even hit me up when I was on vacation, saying, ‘Dana, you got to do this. You got to do this. You got to do this.’

“I’ve never been a believer in kickboxing. I used to watch it, you know, back in the 80s. It was supposed to be the Kick of the 80s, was going to be the big thing, and it just never worked,” he said.

“All those big names at that time that were fighting, it still wasn’t, it still didn’t, you know, if Pride didn’t exist, all those guys would have never made the money they made.

“I like watching it,” he confessed. “Just as far as promoting it and selling it, in my opinion, it’s very hard to do.”

White was being specific about Kickboxing here. Rogan has been a fan of the sport and loves the fights GLORY Kickboxing puts on. UFC imports like Alex Pereira and Israel Adesanya made their mark there but gained stardom only after the UFC.

White’s reasoning applies to Muay Thai, too. And one of his favorite fighters explained why. 

Paddy Pimblett explains why the idea from Joe Rogan won’t work in UFC

Paddy Pimblett believes there are several reasons why elite Muay Thai fighters rarely make the jump to the UFC. That is, even though they are regarded as some of the best strikers in combat sports. 

“Them Thai fighters—some of them start fighting from the age of six, seven, eight, and they’re fighting every week,” Pimblett explained. “They’re the breadwinners for the family from that age, man. That’s madness.”

According to ‘The Baddy,’ many Thai fighters have already endured hundreds of bouts by their late 20s. So, this leaves little motivation to switch sports. He also emphasized how deeply respected Muay Thai is in Thailand.

“You never see Thai fighters in the UFC, though, do you? That’s because they all do Thai. It’s like an honorable thing in their country as well,” he said.

Pimblett also noted that the traditional Muay Thai stance “invites takedowns,” making the transition to MMA more difficult.

What’s more, moving to the UFC means leaving family, culture, learning English, adapting to rules, and risking grappling they may not want to deal with. And why would the top Muay Thai talent leave behind their stardom in Thailand and come to the States to fight in the UFC?