What does Joe Rogan think about the UFC cutting winning fighters for being boring?

Joe Rogan said he dislikes the UFC releasing fighters who want to stay and are winning simply because their style is considered boring. He named the unbeaten Farid Basharat and Michael Page, whose only UFC loss was to Ian Garry. He argued that avoiding damage and fighting intelligently is part of the skill, and that it is up to opponents to solve those styles. Robert Whittaker pointed out that fighter contracts pay a win bonus, so the incentive is to win.

• Rogan noted that Douglas Lima solved Page in Bellator with leg kicks and beat him again in a rematch.
• Whittaker said the answer to fast, agile fighters is to chop the tree down with calf kicks, because one or two hard ones compromise them.
• Rogan said the UFC should put such fighters in with exciting opponents rather than release them.

▸In their words

“I don't like when a guy gets cut that wants to keep fighting in the UFC.” Joe Rogan · at 40:56 — open in the transcript →

Source: our own transcription of the episode. The full conversation is on The Joe Rogan Experience (2026-10-22). Read the whole episode summary →

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