Rogan explains fat ref and Lance Bass comments

[Jack LaBarge]

During the Tom Lawlor vs. Francis Carmont fight at UFC 154 on Saturday night, UFC announcer Joe Rogan turned to his esteemed collegue Mike Goldberg and said "I got a question for you - how fat can you be and still be a referee?"

In the lead in to Johny Hendricks vs. Martin Kampmann, Rogan quipped "Martin Kampmann comes from behind more often than Lance Bass."

[Vincent Viglione]

Good post!

Rogan is ABSOLUTELY right about the fitness of the referees. Those guys are complete animals and that ref could never have physically separated them if he had to force them apart. Rogan is definitely my favorite MMA commentator of all time. He really pours his personality and passion into it. I truly appreciate it!

[Kurzy]

Good post!

Rogan is ABSOLUTELY right about the fitness of the referees. Those guys are complete animals and that ref could never have physically separated them if he had to force them apart. Rogan is definitely my favorite MMA commentator of all time. He really pours his personality and passion into it. I truly appreciate it!

x 1 million

[Conner MACHINE Gibbons]

Not sure that I totally agree with this. I remember the first time I went to train at a seminar at Coach Zogs place. It was 3 years ago or so. Met a really cool guy who trained there. Sargis ( Sorry bro if I butchered your name ). Guy was huge. He didn't look like he could touch his toes let alone survive a jiu jitsu class. My dad always taught me never judge a book by his cover. That was sure the proof!!!! It didn't take long to see this guy was an insane athlete. Crazy Jiu Jitsu. He could drop the hammer on any dude inside the cage if he ever decided to reff......no problem.

On a side note got to see him at east coast seminar that I just went to. He's still an awesome guy and still sick with skills. But he has has lost a ton of weight and is a rock solid beast !!!! So I'm not sure looking at a reff and saying he's overweight is the best way to judge what he can do. Never judge a book by it's cover.......people still mistake me for a girl.Lol

[Chauncey Nu'usolia]

If his weight hinders his ability to referee the fight then it becomes an issue, but forget about fat reff's lets talk about the fact the people judging the fight cant even identify what a omoplata looks like.Or Know if a submission attempt was a legitimate threat.

[DavidHamp]

First time i ever been let down by Joe I walk around 270 and at 5'11" i'm not exactly the picture of physical fitness but i do know i train with alot of 135-205'rs and can keep up with them all from jitz to hand speed with sparring and at our old gym we used to do cage sprints and many times i can beat smaller guys out of the hole and finish across the cage at the same time as them. Now i do fully respect Joe's statements as that it is true typically people are over weight by there own demise myself i have a poor mostly meat diet i dont eat nearly enough fruits and veges but there is plenty of large guys that can deff move there body and keep up with people. Just my opinion though

[Kyl modra]

I think joe got it wrong, I have a friend here in Omaha that is 300+ that refs and was a pro fighter. And during training this big bastard rolled for 26 mins straight then sparred 7 rnds. lets not always judge a book by its cover.

[Chauncey Nu'usolia]

This is were i bring up Big country

[Sam Sales]

You guys are talking about a couple of gifted big guys. Guys that still do some form of exercise. Guys that carry a bunch of excess body fat but still have retained some athleticism. Lets not forget 99% of 'larger' people don't move like those few.
I agree with Joe 100%. And the Dan Henderson vs Bisping example he used was perfect. If Hendo had of landed just 1 or 2 more strikes, Bisping's jaw would have probably shattered and needed wiring.
Also, why should a 125lb fighter have to be tackled by a 300lb referee. This isn't boxing where the ref only really has to step in between the action. Its a much more physical job refereeing an MMA fight. They sometimes have to dive on the fighters.
Just my opinion. :-)

[Freddy Chavez]

i wish i heard the lance bass joke. i might have keeled. the fat observation is a good one. especially when you consider a fighter's safety is more important than the ref's feelings or our feelings. everybody knows somebody. so that means we can think of one or two examples of a fatter guy with the skills to hang and beat anyone else. ok. doesn't make joe's point any less interesting.