Joe Rogan Has Reservations Over UFC White House Event During War With Iran

Joe Rogan has admitted he feels “weird” over the prospect of UFC’s White House event in June while war with Iran continues. 

The UFC will stage its landmark Freedom 250 card on the South Lawn of the White House on June 14, celebrating President Donald Trump’s 80th birthday with the event headlined by Ilia Topuria versus Justin Gaethje. Alex Pereira will also make his Heavyweight debut, fighting Ciryl Gane for the Interim Heavyweight title. 

Rogan will be at the booth commentating over the event, but that hasn’t stopped him from voicing concerns over it during his podcast. 

“Yes, I’m excited,” he said, mulling over the question. “It sounds crazy, I know it’s going to very high security, and high stress, and weird to have a fight at the White House in the middle of a f***ing war. I would hope the war will be sorted out by June. But quite honestly, I’m not confident that’s going to be the case. So, that would be weird. Having this very high-profile event where everybody’s in one place at one time, right there.”

The war in which Rogan speaks of is the ongoing conflict with Iran initiated by United States and Israel attacks on February 28. And while he stopped short of outright saying the concern, in part due to his co-host taking note of the direction, Rogan was concerned that the White House event could become a target in some shape or form. 

WWE’s Steve Austin Comments On Kevin Owens’ Neck Injury, Says He Recommended A Doctor

In 2003, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin opted to retire from professional wrestling after wanting to avoid permanent neck issues, which was caused by the infamous piledriver he took from Owen Hart in 1997. Austin’s WrestleMania 19 match with The Rock marked the end of his full-time career, but nearly 20 years later he returned to the ring for a one-off contest against Kevin Owens at WrestleMania 38. Unfortunately, Owens has suffered a similar fate to Austin, having picked up a career-threatening neck injury after his battle with Sami Zayn at the Elimination Chamber last year. However, “KO” has been given advice and assistance from his WrestleMania opponent, as Austin recently explained in an interview with “The Takedown on SI” that he referred a doctor to Owens.

“I called Kevin a couple of months ago,” Austin said. “I think he’s got a great doctor, according to him, and I threw out a name that I’d heard good things about. I care about the guy. Love the guy. He’s a Hall of Fame talent. I don’t know how he banged his neck up, but he took a lot of bumps. He did a lot of stuff.”

Austin continued to shed light of how easily injuries can happen in the wrestling industry and revealed that he has stayed in contact with Owens throughout his recovery.

“It’s a rough business, right,” Austin stated. “No matter what style you work, you’re going to take a bump. And even the most simple bump can be the devastating bump. Although it looks normal, that sets off some chain reaction, or is the straw that breaks the camel’s back and there’s that injury. So, hey, injuries happen. I stay in touch with him a little bit and I wish him nothing but the best.”

Tony Khan Believes AEW Could Run SoFi Stadium In Los Angeles: ‘Not Crazy At All’

As AEW has continued to grow, the promotion has gotten more ambitious when it comes to running big arenas, beginning with AEW All In 2023 at Wembley Stadium in London. Since then, AEW has returned to Wembley for All In 2024, ran All In 2025 in Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, and is set to return to Wembley again for All In 2026. And it appears another major arena is in play for a potential future AEW event, at least if Tony Khan has his way.

During the post-Revolution media scrum, the AEW owner was asked about potentially running an AEW show in SoFi Stadium, held just down the road from the Crypto.com Arena, the site of Revolution over the last two years. At first glance, the home of the NFL’s Los Angeles Rams and Los Angeles Chargers would seem to be a bit of a tall order for Khan and AEW, who have never run an event in an NFL sized stadium since the promotion’s formation. But Khan didn’t dismiss the idea at all, and even indicated it had crossed his mind.

“Yeah, it could be interesting,” Khan said. “It’s interesting. I’ve thought about it before. I think it’s interesting. I think it’s a very interesting idea. It’s not crazy at all. I don’t think that’s a crazy thought. 

“When you saw all the star power and it gets your brain firing off, and it makes you think. And there were so many great wrestlers wrestling tonight, there were so many great returns and rivals and all the moments. It’s not crazy.”

Steve Austin Praises WWE’s Chelsea Green: ‘She’s Pretty Fearless Out There’

Over the years, WWE Hall Of Famer “Stone Cold” Steve Austin has admitted that he doesn’t keep up with professional wrestling as much as he’d like due to his several business ventures, such as managing his Broken Skull Beer company and dessert racing. However, there’s still talent today that he’s been impressed by, and during a recent interview with “The TakeDown On SI,” he credited WWE star Chelsea Green for not being afraid to take risks creatively during her time on the main roster.

“You’re an idiot when you first join the business,” Austin said. “You just are, unless you’re Shawn Michaels and you kind of get it from day one. When you’re starving and you’re making $15 and $20 a night, you realize that you better get good pretty quick and learn how to reach people on an emotional level, so you can start making some money. I think that Chelsea Green does that a lot of time. She’s pretty fearless out there. On a creative note, she’ll go for it, and it’s done well for her.”

Despite Monday being “Austin 3:16 Day,” “The Rattlesnake” revealed that he will not be attending tonight’s episode of “WWE Raw” to celebrate, as he is preparing for dessert race later this week, and will be in car a garage in Nevada. That said, in January several reports indicated that WWE was looking to schedule Austin’s return, and with “Raw” being held from his home state of Texas, there’s always a possibility that the 61-year-old tried to keep his appearance on tonight’s show a surprise.

WWE’s Cody Rhodes Says He Is ‘Honored’ To Become A Polarizing Wrestler

Cody Rhodes is not embarrassed to admit that takes into consideration one of Batman’s most notorious villains, Two-Face (Harvey Dent’s), famous words, “You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain,” when deciding how to embody his current trajectory. And while most have seen his past heel-like tendencies in Stardust or during his run with the former coolest bad guys around in the Bullet Club, the now three-time Undisputed WWE Champion wants to become the best bell-to-bell crusading babyface that fans have ever seen, despite the mixed bag reactions.

“I think for me at this point, the prime of my career, I’d like it to really define who I am. I’m not so worried defining what the belt is to me. I’d like myself to be fully formed and fully defined. And I think I’m there,” “The American Nightmare” declared on “Insight.” “I was never a polarizing wrestler. Now, I’m a polarizing wrestler…I’m honored by it. I’m honored by the passion of both sides of the coin. What I would like to do and to honor those who are so excited and those who are not so excited, however you put it, is I want to make sure that I’m not gotten to by it.”

As many saw this past Friday on “WWE SmackDown,” it’s never been in Randy Orton’s DNA to ever  maintain nor possess the qualities of a babyface, as we watched him bludgeon his former friend turned opponent at WrestleMania 42 in less than five weeks. That said, Rhodes knows going into Las Vegas this year that it’ll be up to him to prove why he deserves to retain, while trying to convince those who have since booed his efforts why he’s the best for business. However, as he quoted from “Rick and Morty”: “I don’t care that you boo me because I’ve seen what you cheer for.” In other words: he wants to resist the narrative and prove you don’t have to die to become a hero; you can be one for as long as you live.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit “Insight with Chris Van Vliet” with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.