Getty Announcer Joe Rogan reacts during UFC 249.
UFC superstar Joe Rogan was put on blast by mixed martial arts judge Seth Fuller for his work on the mic at UFC 277.
Fuller worked for the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation when he judged the fights of UFC 277 on July 20 in Dallas. MMA judges do not usually speak out as they are prohibited by their respective state athletic commission. However, Fuller defended himself in a nearly 30 minutes long video, admitting he thought a lot before sharing his counterargument.
At the event, Hamdy Abdelwahab’s split decision victory over Don’Tale Mayes was surrounded by controversy. Fuller was the only judge who scored the bout for Mayes and was criticized by the commentary team for it.
“I mean, come on,” Cormier said on the broadcast. “… Somebody gave Don’Tale the third round, Joe.”
Rogan responded, “That guy needs a talking to. We need to check and see what he bet on.” (ht MMA Junkie)
In a video titled “I clap back at Joe Rogan Jon Anik and Daniel Cormier,” Fuller issued a fiery response to Rogan. While Fuller was not aware of the backlash online, he quickly found out after he left the arena from a text message sent by an unknown number.
“Are you even watching the fights f*cktard?” the message read. “No one in the world had Mayes except you. Sad when even the commentators are clowning your terrible ability to do your job.”
He reported that while the prelim judges had not worked at UFC events prior, each of them had more than a decade of experience.
“I figure I’ve judged about 80 cards and several hundred fights themselves,” Fuller said. “I’ve judged and reffed, because I do both. Now again, is that experience enough? I don’t know in what profession 10 years of doing something is not considered seasoned. … This ‘regional’ judge Steve Armstrong, here he is at UFC 5 cornering Guy Mezger – UFC 5. He’d been doing it since before this.
“How much more seasoned do you need to be? The other judges, Ken Basinger, Dan Mathison, Aaron Menard have also been doing it over a decade. These are seasoned judges. For them to talk about it again, every time a judge makes a score they don’t like, they have to insult them.”
Rogan Got Bashed for His Work During the Main Event
Rogan is renowned for his abilities as a color commentator and interviewer. He lends his voice to the biggest events of the year, usually the biggest pay-per-view cards across the country. Having worked for the UFC for about two and a half decades, Rogan is bound to have some mishaps.
During the live broadcast of the UFC 277 main card, Rogan got criticized for his commentary alongside former two-division champion Daniel Cormier.
They got accused of being biased in the headlining title fight between reigning ‘double-champ’ Amanda Nunes and former bantamweight title holder Julianna Pena, making it sound like the fight was closer than it really was.
Fuller Does Not Hold a Grudge Against Rogan
Fuller explained that he was a massive Rogan fan. The point of making the video was not necessarily to trash Rogan but to vindicate himself in the public.
“The commission (might go), ‘Hey, this is why we shouldn’t have put this guy on the main UFC. This is why we shouldn’t have put Steve Armstrong in the main UFC. This is why we shouldn’t have put these local judges on the main UFC card.’ To me, that’s a bunch of BS,” Fuller said.
“To me, if I’m doing it wrong, then cite me for doing it wrong. But if you’re pretending that I’m not experienced, or I was careless, or I didn’t think or concentrate or didn’t do my absolute best and that I don’t care about these fighters and don’t care if the result is the correct result, according to the rules that they agreed to, then you are crazy. You’re just plain wrong. It’s not OK.”
You can watch the full video below.