UFC color commentator Joe Rogan has seen the UFC destroy a lot of its competition in the two-plus decades that the promotion has been around.
When it comes to Bellator MMA, one thing Rogan would love to see happen in the promotion become a full rival to the UFC.
?I like it,? Rogan said on the Joe Rogan Experience MMA Show. ?I like that the fighters are having a good time over there. They get paid well. I want it to grow. I want it to be right up there with the UFC. I would love it if it was a full rival like PRIDE was.?
PRIDE was arguably the biggest rival to the UFC thus far, but the promotion would go out of business and eventually get bought by the UFC in 2007.
The UFC commentator has a lot of love for Bellator, plus he is enthused by some of the people that work for the promotion, both in the cage and outside of the cage.
?I love Coker,? Rogan said. ?I like what he?s doing. I?m somehow or another supposed to be in competition with Bellator. I say that?s horse(expletive). I?m the one who got Jimmy Smith hired (to UFC). I tried to get him hired years ago. I love the fact that ?Big? John (McCarthy) is over there now, and (Mike) ?Goldie? (Goldberg) is too. And Mauro (Ranallo), I love Mauro. They?ve got great fighters over there. I love that Rory MacDonald?s over there. He?s the champ. If he?s not the best welterweight in the world, it?s him and Tyron (Woodley). He?s most certainly one of the best. (Gegard) Mousasi is one go the best 185ers in the world, if not the best. They have legit claim to world-class fighters now in at least two weight classes.?
Rogan can be heard next at UFC 229, which takes place onb October 6, with UFC Lightweight Champion Khabib Nurmagomedov and Conor McGregor in the main event.