AUSTIN, TEXAS: Joe Rogan‘s podcast, 'The Joe Rogan Experience' is a goldmine for anyone seeking an abundance of unknown facts about "fixed" MMA fights in Japan. On his podcast, the 55-year-old repeatedly surprises all listeners with shocking MMA tales which can often be too bizarre to be real.
Rogan invited comedian Ali Siddiq as his guest. At roughly the two-hour mark, the podcast host dived into a particular issue. The MMA community rarely comes across this situation, as the ruthless nature of this sport does not enable fights to be rigged. However, there are some who still manage to pull the realness out of the sport of MMA.
'There were some fixed fights'
Rogan takes a deep dive into the strange realm of staged fights that formerly inhabited the Japanese MMA landscape. Rather than exclusively witnessing official bouts, fans occasionally found themselves questioning the validity of certain performances.
Moreover, Rogan humorously revealed his insights, recalling the odd confrontations where heroes emerged victorious through seemingly implausible moves, leaving fans scratching their heads and doubting the true nature of the fights.
Rogan said, "There were some fixed fights in the early days in Japan. In MMA, there were some fixed fights. Japan was weird because you had real fights, and then you had some fights where the look hero wins. You are like, ‘How did he get him in a heel hook? Why is he tapping like that? Why it’s so dramatic?’ It was like, this is pro wrestling."
'This guy is a terrible actor'
However, the stories of staged matches didn’t stop with MMA. Afterward, Rogan went to watch an alleged fake boxing match that took place in Japan with his podcast guest. In this specific fight, one of the fighters, supposedly a wealthy guy with alleged artificial muscle implants, showed little resemblance to a trained boxer.
His clumsily executed jab was far from convincing, yet his opponent theatrically fell to the hit. As Rogan watched this boxing contest, he could not convince himself that it was a legitimate fight.
He said, "That looks so fake. He literally shows him his chin. This guy is a terrible actor. He’s got nothing. It’s like a guy who just learned boxing yesterday. It’s crazy, this is one of the weirdest videos on the internet. He’s gotta be an insane person."