Does having Joe Rogan as the color analyst hurt MMA's credibility?

[EmpireWF]

I dont' think you guys are really getting my point, this isnt is Rogan good or not, I think is does a pretty good job actually, but the point is for a sport to be credible shouldn't the analyst actually be credible?

Of course Joe is fun to listen to, passionate about the sport and is knowledgable to a degree, but a analyst should be able to draw from his experiences and Joe has no MMA experience, a lot different when say Mir can talk about trying to sweep a 250 lbs HW while getting punched compared to Joe pulling from what happened in BJJ class the other night

Look at every other sport, you have Super Bowl QB's, winning coaches, pro's who have done this there entire life, etc...when you have other sports with Troy Aikman breaking down the on field action who played and won at the highest level, or do you want a comedian with a brown belt in BJJ?

Rogan can't give you what Bas, Randy, Pulver, Pat, Frank, Mir, etc...give you, even if you don't 'like' listening to them, they have done it on that level, not just trained part time and watched a lot of fights

Just a thought

Frankly (no pun intended, I swear), I've never given that much thought.

Rogan talks as if he has done MMA before (besides training) and when has the fact he has not ever made him less credible? He's usually able to explain clearly what a fighter is attempting to do whether it's stand-up or what appears to be a complicated jiu-jitsu hold.

If the fact it's Joe Rogan doing color for the UFC hinders the opinion of a viewer, I'd imagine after a fight or two that fact would wear off.

Maybe it's because I'm so use to him by now, but I think Rogan is the best in the biz. I see Mir as the #2 guy but at times he can go off on tangents about certain moves (not saying it sucks, but it's hilarious at times). The fact Rogan is not an MMA fighter doesn't make me think any less of the broadcast.

But you're talking to a bunch of guys who have been watching all kinds of MMA for years.

You'd have to ask a casual viewer to get an honest answer.

[Liquidrob]

I can break down all the moves and explain what is going on, so can a lot of people who have trained and watched the sport from the beginning, but do you want us to be the color analyst of the premier MMA promotion in the world?

I think a 3 man booth with an actual fighter would make the show and the UFC more credible, or even better axe Goldie and make Rogan the play by play guy and have a guy like Randy, how much better would the booth be with Rogan and Couture compared to Goldie and Rogan

[Steel Mamba]

If anything it should help it. On paper it looks a bit amatuer having Rogan on, but once you hear him call a fight you have to respect the work he does. The only people who are going to discredit MMA because of Rogan are the ones who are close minded and don't want to give MMA a chance in the first place. No one can watch a UFC broadcast and say that he isn't the right guy for the job. He knows MMA, you couldn't tell that hes never fought by how much he knows, and I put him right up there with the likes of Bas and I think Frank is pretty good too.

If anyone needs to improve their broadcasts or bring in more talent it's the other major sports. In pro sports how many truly great broadcast teams are there? Personally the only guys I like are Mark Jackson/Van Gundy calling the NBA games. The NFL has a lot of ex-players/coaches, but rarely do they drop anything that the average fan can't see or doesn't already know their selves. Rogan breaks down the technical aspects of his sport better than the majority of commentators out there IMO.

[Kuzzy Powers]

I always enjoyed when Randy was in the booth during his "retirement". IMO, the UFC should have special guests more often.. Randy used to do it all the time, now it seems its never done.

[LiquidLarry2GhostWF]

I dont' think you guys are really getting my point, this isnt is Rogan good or not, I think is does a pretty good job actually, but the point is for a sport to be credible shouldn't the analyst actually be credible?

Of course Joe is fun to listen to, passionate about the sport and is knowledgable to a degree, but a analyst should be able to draw from his experiences and Joe has no MMA experience, a lot different when say Mir can talk about trying to sweep a 250 lbs HW while getting punched compared to Joe pulling from what happened in BJJ class the other night

Look at every other sport, you have Super Bowl QB's, winning coaches, pro's who have done this there entire life, etc...when you have other sports with Troy Aikman breaking down the on field action who played and won at the highest level, or do you want a comedian with a brown belt in BJJ?

Rogan can't give you what Bas, Randy, Pulver, Pat, Frank, Mir, etc...give you, even if you don't 'like' listening to them, they have done it on that level, not just trained part time and watched a lot of fights

Just a thought

To be honest...the idea of having a former pro as the color guy is something that is just sweeping all sports, and to be honest, I'm very ho hum on the idea. Its just an over saturation at this point. And really, when looking at all of these sports with those color guys, they really do not add anything to the broadcast that couldn't be added by a non-professional. They really don't supply the depth and vision that you'd expect...after watching these sports for years, I've pretty much determined that whether its Brian Gumbel or Troy Aikman, they are pretty much saying the same thing. The depth is the same.

In regards to Joe v. Bas or Randy...Randy is a nice guy to go to for a quick in depth look before a fight, but in regards to keeping up with the broadcast, I feel as though Joe is just on another level and during the fight, actually provides the same level of analysis as a Randy. Now, Randy or Bas or Frank Mir or whomever as a guy you go to before the fight with a scripted analysis or post-fight for some analysis is what they should do to provide some depth to the programming, but in regards to taking a seat over Joe...no need, they provide the same amount of commentary with nuts, but presented in a far weaker manner.

When you are watching NFL Countdown, for example...does Tom Jackson, Keyshawn, Mike Ditka, etc. provide you with any thing that Chris Berman doesn't already tell you? Not really, IMO. while they do have a wealth of experience in the sport, its not really used in any credible manner for the programming.

[EmpireWF]

I can break down all the moves and explain what is going on, so can a lot of people who have trained and watched the sport from the beginning, but do you want us to be the color analyst of the premier MMA promotion in the world?

I think a 3 man booth with an actual fighter would make the show and the UFC more credible, or even better axe Goldie and make Rogan the play by play guy and have a guy like Randy, how much better would the booth be with Rogan and Couture compared to Goldie and Rogan

I wouldn't want Rogan as the PBP guy. That guy has to shill and promote everything which is what Goldberger does best. He's not terrible at actually calling the action either.

When Florian does color sometimes, he's fine but his voice is kind of annoying (just me?).

If you know your shit and can verbalize well, I don't see what's the big problem.

I doubt someone is watching a UFC show, saying hey there's that guy from Fear Factor on commentary...I'm turning off.

[CrimsonGhost56]

i dont mind rogan. his nuthugging is a bit much (especially his fascination with aoki) at times but like most people have said hes quite knowledgeable about the sport and he does bring a good excitement to the broadcast. IMO nothing can top the team of quadros and bas.

[KINGOFOOTBALL]

Jim Lampley , Bob Costas , Marv Albert , Al Michaels , Al Bernstein

All say GTFO outta here.


Everytime UFC has invited a fighter into the booth theyve sucked ass. Randy Couture was the only tolerable one.
Bas Rutten and Frank Shamrock are hard to listen to even thought they have great insight.
It takes a good voice , great energy , and a good amount of knowledge to be an analyst. Seeing that Goldberg is a colorman in the purest form it shows how good Rogan is since most colormen today try hard to leak over to the analyst perspective.

Like mentioned before only ones who would hold it against UFC are usually the ones looking to dislike MMA.

[CrimsonGhost56]

Jim Lampley , Bob Costas , Marv Albert , Al Michaels , Al Bernstein

All say GTFO outta here.


Everytime UFC has invited a fighter into the booth theyve sucked ass. Randy Couture was the only tolerable one.
Bas Rutten and Frank Shamrock are hard to listen to even thought they have great insight.
It takes a good voice , great energy , and a good amount of knowledge to be an analyst. Seeing that Goldberg is a colorman in the purest form it shows how good Rogan is since most colormen today try hard to leak over to the analyst perspective.

Like mentioned before only ones who would hold it against UFC are usually the ones looking to dislike MMA.

i thought kenny florian was pretty good

[EmpireWF]

Jim Lampley , Bob Costas , Marv Albert , Al Michaels , Al Bernstein

All say GTFO outta here.


Everytime UFC has invited a fighter into the booth theyve sucked ass. Randy Couture was the only tolerable one.
Bas Rutten and Frank Shamrock are hard to listen to even thought they have great insight.
It takes a good voice , great energy , and a good amount of knowledge to be an analyst. Seeing that Goldberg is a colorman in the purest form it shows how good Rogan is since most colormen today try hard to leak over to the analyst perspective.

Like mentioned before only ones who would hold it against UFC are usually the ones looking to dislike MMA.

The top guys mentioned are play by play guys. We're talking color men.

[LiquidLarry2GhostWF]

The color guys that are in or have been major players in the sport are nice, just not for the whole broadcast. They can inject their insight in vignettes before the fight and after...but during the fights, I would venture to say its just not their place.

They have a lot of practice to go before they get on Rogan's level.

[Liquidrob]

Jim Lampley , Bob Costas , Marv Albert , Al Michaels , Al Bernstein

All say GTFO outta here.

fail?

[Liquidrob]

Would you find it strange for the NFL to have Al Michaels and Dennis Miller in the booth for football games?

How about say Gus Johnson and Adam Sandler doing basketball games? Isnt it odd that the UFC has a booth with zero experience in MMA?

If you want to keep Goldberg in there to shill, thats fine, Joe is also great, but put a former fighter in there everytime, Randy, Mir, Kenny, Pulver, etc...these guys don't have the appeal of Rogan, but they give you what a credible booth needs, actually MMA experience

You want people on the outside to take this sport serious, kind of hard when your analyst is a comedian who trains BJJ when he has free time

[Kuzzy Powers]

What's your deal with credibility? The sport has already gained TONS this past decade, with Rogan doing the commentating for a lot of it. This seems like someone you and other MMA purists would propose this about the casual fan when it seems the casual fan has barely even noticed.....

This is true. Casuals fans really dont give a fuck if Joe Rogan has never fought, hes pretty damn good at his job and thats all they notice. Plus, he certainly likes to make it sound like he does fight, lol. Always saying "we" in reference to BJJ practitioners and shit. Rob's just trying to draw up discussion tho, and lobby for his boy Frank to get a job in the UFC booth. ;)

[LiquidLarry2GhostWF]

Would you find it strange for the NFL to have Al Michaels and Dennis Miller in the booth for football games?

How about say Gus Johnson and Adam Sandler doing basketball games? Isnt it odd that the UFC has a booth with zero experience in MMA?

If you want to keep Goldberg in there to shill, thats fine, Joe is also great, but put a former fighter in there everytime, Randy, Mir, Kenny, Pulver, etc...these guys don't have the appeal of Rogan, but they give you what a credible booth needs, actually MMA experience

You want people on the outside to take this sport serious, kind of hard when your analyst is a comedian who trains BJJ when he has free time

That would depend on if Dennis Miller is actually knowledgable about the sport.

Like I mentioned earlier...you do not need "credibility" in the booth to have a credible broadcast team. That is a concept that is fairly new and the result has been mixed at best with fail at worst considering every team now has to have the PbP guy and the color guy that happens to be a former player. Most sports are better off muted than listening to the commentary because of it.

I ask this...other than the subjective "credibility"...what do Randy or Goldberg or whomever have over Rogan or what do they provide that Rogan can not to a broadcast.

Before you say "expertise" or some sort in depth knowledge of the sport...think to the last time you heard something from any of the former players during a broadcast of any sport that was something that wasn't generic or boxed. I can't recall one. To me, former pro or current nerd, they all say pretty much the same shit anyway, which to me, makes the idea of having a credible color guy pointless, especially when they are very much behind the curve in regards how they actually present the product.

I think the UFC needs to have more former fighters on (maybe even regulars), but as guys who provide an analysis before and/or after the fights (maybe even between rounds), but during? No need as they will actually take away from the product over someone like Super Joe.

I know you are just being a contrarian, but alas...