Joe Rogan doesn’t travel internationally to call fights for the UFC and that apparently even extends to a potential trip to Canada.
On May 10, UFC 315 lands in Montreal for a card headlined by welterweight champion Belal Muhammad defend his belt for the first time when he faces Jack Della Maddalena. The co-main event features Valentina Shevchenko putting her flyweight title up for grabs against top contender Manon Fiorot but the broadcast booth won’t feature Rogan on color commentary.
“I won’t be there,” Rogan said during his UFC London Fight Companion podcast. “I don’t go to Canada anymore. I don’t. I’d rather go to Russia.”
While it’s not a total surprise considering Rogan also didn’t travel to Canada for UFC 297, which took place in Toronto back in January 2024, it’s the first time the comedian and podcast magnate expressed his disdain about traveling to the United States’ neighbor to the north.
When he first decided to stop calling fights for international cards, Rogan explained that it was more about the excessive travel and time away from home.
While going to Canada wouldn’t require an incredibly long trip from his home in Austin, Rogan just doesn’t sound interested in traveling there given the current political landscape in North America.
The U.S. and Canada have been at odds lately after President Donald Trump initiated a series of costly tariffs on goods coming from other countries including Canada, which has potentially ignited a trade war.
There was also a running joke that Trump might look to annex Canada and create a 51st state in the U.S., which Rogan acknowledged from a past conversation he had with the president.
“That’s never going to happen,” Rogan said with a laugh about Canada joining the United States. “That’s so crazy. Asked them to be the 51st state.
“I had a conversation with Trump about it. He goes ‘I started calling him Governor [Justin] Trudeau just for fun but a lot of people are saying good idea. Maybe it is a good idea!.’”
Trudeau, the now former prime minister in Canada, just recently resigned his seat and he was succeeded by Mark Carney, who has already spoken out about Trump’s trade war.
“We are facing the most significant crisis of our lifetimes because of President Trump’s unjustified trade actions and his threats to our sovereignty,” Carney said during a news conference.
It seems the tensions between the U.S. and Canada reach as far as the UFC broadcast booth with Rogan bowing out of UFC 315.
While Rogan is absent, Jon Anik and Daniel Cormier are both expected to call the fights as usual and the UFC will eventually decide on a replacement to step in for him for the event on May 10.
