AUSTIN, TEXAS: The UFC has had a fantastic year with lots of exciting storylines, knockouts, comebacks, and surprises. Joe Rogan has relished each and every one of those moments, being the devoted fan that he is.
Joe Rogan began working for the promotion more than 25 years ago, and he also serves as a commentator for the UFC. He carried on in this capacity this year as well, calling several of the UFC's biggest cards in 2023.
A total of 13 UFC pay-per-views took place in 2023. However, Rogan often does not attend events outside of the US, so he was not present for all of them.
How many UFC PPVs did Joe Rogan attend in 2023?
For every big show, he has arranged 'JRE' Fight Companions, even if he did not call every bout. In addition to commentating on six significant UFC nights this year, Rogan is set to cover one forthcoming PPV card.
When Jon Jones defended his heavyweight title against Cyril Gane at UFC 285 in March of this year, Rogan was in Las Vegas to call the event.
Jones prevailed. He made his next pay-per-view commentary on UFC 287, which featured Israel Adesanya and Alex Pereira's rematch as the main attraction. Adesanya prevailed and took back the middleweight championship.
He watched Henry Cejudo make his comeback against bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling at UFC 288.
"Funkmaster" narrowly prevailed over the former Olympic gold medallist and two-division champion via split decision after five rounds. The featherweight title fight between champion Alexander Volkanovski and Yair Rodriguez was the main event of UFC 290, which Rogan called in July.
The champion prevailed via third-round KO/TKO. The aficionado for psychedelics was also a member of the commentary crew for the next pay-per-view event, UFC 291; there, Justin Gaethje emerged victorious against Dustin Poirier via spectacular head-kick knockout to take the title of BMF champion.
He also called UFC 292, where Sean O'Malley used a brilliant counter right hands to defeat Aljamain Sterling, the fighter with the most UFC bantamweight title defenses. In addition, Rogan will offer commentary on the November 11 UFC 295 match at Madison Square Garden.
While Rogan's relationship with the UFC is still going strong, it is unclear if he will stay on as Spotify's mega-deal comes to an end regarding his podcast.
Joe Rogan's $200 million Spotify deal ends soon
For a whopping $200 million in 2020, Spotify secured an exclusive three-year contract for Joe Rogan's 'JRE' show. Therefore, his agreement with the music and podcast streaming service expires at the end of 2023.
This has sparked speculation about his future plans after 2023. He could decide to stick with Spotify, albeit at a likely reduced value arrangement as the service attempts to make slashes to reduce its losses.
Alternatively, he could head to Elon Musk's social media platform X, which was formerly Twitter. However, unlike YouTube, the network offers monetization potential without paying its creators directly.
Alternatively, he could decide to use the Rumble video streaming service. But its business strategy is also comparable to YouTube's.
