'Japan was really weird' - Joe Rogan drops major truth bombs exposing fixed MMA fights from early days of Japanese combats

For anyone looking for a treasure trove of previously unheard MMA anecdotes, Joe Rogan's podcast is a gold mine. The 55-year-old frequently astounds his listeners on his podcast, "Joe Rogan Experience," with astounding MMA tales that occasionally seem too bizarre to be true. His JRE podcast's episode #1998 was no exception.

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Ali Siddiq, a comedian, was Rogan's guest. Around the two-hour point, the podcast host dove into a specific subject: MMA fights that were fixed. The MMA community rarely encounters this situation since the brutality of this sport prohibits fights from being rigged. Some people do, however, succeed in removing the reality from the MMA sport.

Rogan dove deep into the fascinating realm of fake fights, which formerly dotted the Japanese MMA scene. Audiences occasionally wondered whether particular acts were actually real, rather than just seeing real fights. Additionally, Rogan expressed his insights in a lighthearted manner, recalling the perplexing battles when heroes prevailed through seemingly impossible feats, leaving the audience to wonder about the real purpose of the battles.

‘There were some fixed fights in the early days in Japan’ – Joe Rogan

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“There were some fixed fights in the early days in Japan. In MMA, there were some fixed fights. Japan was weird because you had real fights, and then you had some fights where the look hero wins. You are like, ‘How did he get him in a heel hook? Why is he tapping like that? Why it’s so dramatic?’ It was like, this is pro wrestling.”

The story of staged fights didn't end with MMA, either. After that, Rogan and his podcast guest watched an alleged phoney boxing match that happened in Japan. One of the fighters in this bout, who was allegedly affluent and had artificial muscle implants, looked nothing like a skilled boxer. His clumsily executed jab didn't seem very convincing, but his opponent theatrically took the hit anyhow. Rogan struggled to believe this boxing contest was a genuine fight as he watched it.

“That looks so fake. He literally shows him his chin. This guy is a terrible actor. He’s got nothing. It’s like a guy who just learned boxing yesterday. It’s crazy, this is one of the weirdest videos on the internet. He’s gotta be an insane person.”