Joe Rogan condemned Trump’s bizarre UFC Freedom 250 event taking place at the White House on the president’s 80th birthday.
“The White House thing is odd. I don’t like it,” Rogan, 58, said during a Joe Rogan Experience episode with former UFC fighter Josh Thompson and 24-year UFC referee “Big” John McCarthy on Thursday.
Many critiques of the reportedly $60 million event have centered around its confusing arena construction on the South Lawn, which more closely resembles a rollercoaster than a boxing ring.
Rogan, who endorsed Trump in 2024 but has become increasingly critical of the president, was concerned more for the fighters themselves.
“I don’t like the idea of fighting outside at all,” Rogan, a frequent UFC commentator, said, noting that the event will take place in D.C. in June, where temperatures regularly exceed 90 degrees. “How about dehydration?”
“Well, there’s problems with it,” McCarthy, 63, agreed.
“You add the lights, that attracts bugs,” Thompson, 47, added.
“The bugs are a big one,” Rogan concurred.
UFC President Dana White spoke about the same issue last week.
“President Trump just opened the Rose Garden two nights ago, and he invited me to dinner there. The amount of gnats that were flying around. I’m like, ‘Holy s--t,’” White said on the Boardroom podcast. The UFC president said he immediately called his head of production to solve the issue, using fans to blow away the insects.
Rogan was less than impressed by White’s proposed solution.
“How are they f---ing going to do anything about the bugs?... They were talking about maybe using fans,” Rogan said. “Like, how are you going to stop the bugs? Pesticide the s--t out of it?”
“That’s good, pesticides. That’s good for the fighters. That’ll help with their breathing,” McCarthy, who joined the UFC even before White, quipped, shaking his head in disbelief.
The marquee UFC event is headlined by a Lightweight Title fight between Ilia Topuria and Justin Gaethje, in addition to an interim title fight. Some current belt-holders backed out over the location.
With real stakes on the line, Rogan questioned why any fighter would risk their championship belt in an event with such unpredictable conditions.
“I just don’t think that you should compete in a world championship fight in a non-controlled environment,” Rogan declared. “You wouldn’t ask them to play a world championship basketball game outside in the sun. That would be crazy.”
“I understand the whole thing, and it’s special, but it’s gonna be a pain in the butt,” McCarthy said, noting that UFC 3, which was held in North Carolina in an arena with “no AC,” was “brutal.”
“Build a f---ing roof! Like you’ve got all the money in the world, right? You want to do this for f---ing America?” Rogan exclaimed, referencing Trump’s ongoing ballroom construction.
“You have to ask yourself as a fighter, though, is the spectacle worth my career?” Thompson added.
Though neither the referees nor the commentators for UFC Freedom 250 have been officially announced, Rogan said he would “allegedly” be attending the event.
“If there’s not a bomb that goes off between now and then,” he said, adding, “Who f---ing knows? This world is crazy.”
