Joe Rogan has taken on one of MMA’s most enduring debates and arrived at a conclusion that may surprise fans expecting a single definitive answer: in the UFC heavyweight division, there is no true greatest of all time.
Rogan made the comments during a conversation with rapper Action Bronson on his podcast, drawing on years of experience as a UFC color commentator to explain why the heavyweight division’s best fighters exist in a category where any one of them could have beaten the others on the right night.
“I don’t think there’s a real GOAT in heavyweight, because there’s times where one guy would have beaten all the other guys,” Rogan said.
That framing did not stop him from naming the fighters he believes belong in the conversation, and the list included some names that often go underappreciated in the broader discussion.
Cain Velasquez was the first name Rogan reached for, and the praise was emphatic.
“I love Cain. He’s in there, he’s in the GOAT category. Prime Cain against anyone ever, who knows? Prime Cain was an unstoppable tornado of punches and takedowns. No fatigue. It’s not coming. You think he’s going to get tired, he’ll never get tired.”
Rogan made the case for Stipe Miocic on the strength of a specific achievement no other heavyweight can claim.
“You’ve got to put Stipe in there because he defended the heavyweight title more than anybody. He beat Ngannou when Ngannou was in his prime, and got rocked a bunch of times and came back. You’ve got to give it to him. He’s always going to be in the GOAT category.”
Fedor Emelianenko, who never competed inside the UFC but is widely regarded as the greatest heavyweight in MMA history by hardcore fans, received his acknowledgment as well. “Fedor, of course. The real connoisseur, the real hardcore MMA heads, they’re like ‘Fedor is the GOAT.’”
“I always say everyone forgets about Fabricio Werdum,” he said. “Fabricio Werdum tapped Cain Velasquez, Minotauro Nogueira, and Fedor. He tapped Fedor when Fedor was Fedor. When you look at Fabricio Werdum in his prime, he’s in that range. He beat Cain Velasquez, he beat Mark Hunt with a flying knee to win the title. Bro, he beat the best of the best. He beat them all, and he tapped three of the all time greats.”