Rogan calls for universally banned strikes to be legalized in MMA

“It doesn’t seem to make any sense to me.”

Last week, Joe Rogan boldly declared the likes of current fighters like Jorge Masvidal to be “better” than Georges St-Pierre. According to the longtime UFC analyst, “Gamebred” in particular is on “another level” and could beat a prime GSP if he was “around at the time,” which he was, and he didn’t.

Now, Rogan is saying that strikes to the back of a fighter’s head should be allowed in MMA. This is coming from one of the sport’s notable figures who’s been around for nearly three decades and saw the evolution from “No Holds Barred Fighting” to what we all know as mixed martial arts today.

“I don’t even know if we should stop hitting people in the back of the head. It doesn’t seem to make any sense to me. Because a lot of knockouts like high kicks, they wrap around the back of the shoulder and they go right to the back of your head, and it’s legal. The guy gets KOd,” Rogan told Masvidal in a recent episode of his podcast.

Rogan even gave an example to prove his point.

“Like Ciryl Gane and Junior Dos Santos. (Gane) kind of hit him with an elbow in the back of the head. It’s like, it should be legal. I don’t understand why it’s not legal. And people say you’re more vulnerable there, don’t get f—ng hit there.”

Rabbit punching, as it is colloquially known, is illegal across the board in all combat sports due to the high injury risk it entails, with possible serious and irreparable damage to the brain stem, spinal cord and cervical vertebrae.

The most prominent example is the case of 30-year-old Puerto Rican boxer Prichard Colón, who suffered a career-ending injury after taking punches to the back of the head during his fight with Terrel Williams in 2015. Colón fell into a coma and has reportedly been in a vegetative state for years.

But for Rogan, rabbit punching should be acceptable since it was practiced during MMA’s early days.

“Eddie Bravo’s talked about this all the time. In the old days of MMA, when a guy got someone’s back, they would just drop elbows down on his head. Back of the head. If you have the back and the head is there, all this punching just to the side is not realistic.”

Rogan seemed serious with his statements, at least based on his tone, but it’s probably par for the course for a self-confessed “jackass” with a “drunken, ridiculous podcast.”

About the author: Milan Ordoñez has been covering combat sports since 2012 and has been part of the Bloody Elbow staff since 2016. He’s also competed in amateur mixed martial arts and submission grappling tournaments. (full bio)