Joe Rogan Went Viral For His Hilarious Reactions To UFC 261 Knockouts

UFC 261 took place in front of a sold-out and maskless 15,000 audience inside Vystar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida, on Saturday.

After several months of being separated by COVID-19 protocols — often holding interviews via video link despite being just yards apart — UFC’s announcers were finally alongside each other once more to call the fights.

Jon Anik, Daniel Cormier, and Joe Rogan were able to watch the events of UFC 261 unfold, with Rogan in particular going viral on Twitter for his on-camera reactions to the night’s drama.

Earlier this month, UFC strawweight fighter Rose Namajunas refused to back down from her outspoken criticism of communism, reiterating her family’s struggles against communist oppression, having “recently told a Lithuanian outlet that … “it’s better dead than red,” an anti-communist expression coined during the Cold War,” and that her opponent during UFC 261, “Zhang is ‘red’” and that freedom is a ‘huge motivating factor’ for why she fights.”

The two fighters faced each other on Saturday evening in the Octagon. After Rose Namajunas caught Weili Zhang with a head kick, after which she quickly won the fight and therefore the title belt, Rogan’s reaction immediately went viral.

The reaction says it all 🤯 🤯🤯 #UFC261 @espnmma pic.twitter.com/NO1Uw98ULJ

— ESPN (@espn) April 25, 2021

As MMA Mania reported, “The emotions continued for [Rogan] as he started to cry interviewing Namajunas.”

During a later welterweight fight between Kamaru Usman and Jorge Masvidal, Usman knocked out Masvidal after catching him “flush with a clean right cross which turned his chin and left him unconscious at 1:02 of Round 2.” Rogan’s reaction, again, went viral almost immediately.

For everyone saying it’s his reaction to Rose KO, here’s the full clip. Even tho he had a similar hilarious reaction to Rose as well pic.twitter.com/YuxOAbiH3B

— Body Politic Sports (@__BodyPolSports) April 25, 2021

“I always feel very fortunate to have my seat at the commentary table, and I still get goosebumps before big fights like I did when I first started working for the UFC many years ago,” Rogan wrote in an Instagram post after the show, according to MMA Mania. “If it’s possible, I think I appreciate it even more now than ever. It was a real honor to be there last night. It really felt like I was witnessing history.”

While many reacted to the fights themselves, Joe Rogan continued to trend Saturday evening.

WHAT A FIGHT. JOE ROGAN IS ALL OF US DURING THIS ENTIRE CARD SO FAR. 🔥 #UFC261 pic.twitter.com/jTGliSI7dK

— Roxanne (@RoxanneRobles) April 25, 2021

Joe Rogan during the Rose KO: pic.twitter.com/PS19laAAXV

— Spinnin Backfist (@SpinninBackfist) April 25, 2021

The lads @joerogan, @Jon_Anik and @dc_mma were all of us at that moment! 😱#UFC261 pic.twitter.com/7B9ju0bzcs

— UFC on BT Sport (@btsportufc) April 25, 2021

Joe Rogan’s reactions give me life. pic.twitter.com/JMoNxE9Dx1

— JP (@JPKrez) April 25, 2021

UFC 261 was a night brimming with drama. As reported by The Daily Wire, fighter Chris Weidman broke his leg during an earlier fight against Uriah Hall, and was “transported out of the arena on a stretcher.

“I’ve got nothing but respect [for] Chris Weidman,” Hall said. “He’s truly one of the best. It is a crazy story, that he was the first man I fought that defeated me [in 2010], that introduced me to fear. I didn’t know what fear was … we went different paths. He was the first one defeated Anderson [in the UFC]; I was the last. And it’s just crazy how we ended up here again. I wanted to put on a great performance, but man, I feel so bad. I hope he’s okay. I wish his family well.”

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