Joe Rogan implores UFC ref to pause battle after Shavkat Rakhmonov loses mouthpiece: ‘That’s so loopy’

Joe Rogan was on the decision for UFC 285 on Saturday as Jon Jones defeated Ciryl Gane to win the heavyweight title in his return to the Octagon in additional than three years.

Before the evening made its strategy to the massive primary occasion battle, Rogan had a serving to hand in ensuring Shavkat Rakhmonov was secure throughout his bout in opposition to Geoff Neal. In the primary spherical, Rogan alerted referee Herb Dean to Rakhmonov’s mouthpiece which fell out through the battle with greater than a minute left.

Joe Rogan walks contained in the Octagon through the UFC 282 occasion at T-Mobile Arena on Dec. 10, 2022 in Las Vegas. (Carmen Mandato/Zuffa LLC)

Dean pressed pause on the battle to ensure Rakhmonov discovered his mouthpiece after which the bout would proceed. Daniel Cormier mentioned on the printed it didn’t seem Rakhmonov “cared” about discovering the piece of kit to maintain his mouth secure and stored on preventing.

Dean checked Rakhmonov’s mouth after which discovered the mouthpiece on the ground of the Octagon.

Shavkat Rakhmonov of Uzbekistan talks to Joe Rogan in a welterweight battle through the UFC 285 occasion at T-Mobile Arena on March 4, 2023 in Las Vegas. (Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC through Getty Images)

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“He didn’t know,” Rogan mentioned. “If I didn’t inform him, he wouldn’t have identified. That’s so loopy.”

Rakmonov defeated Neal through submission within the third spherical and remained undefeated with a 17-0 report. Neal fell to 15-5. Their bout was initially presupposed to happen at UFC Fight Night again in January, however Neal pulled out because of an damage. 

Their welterweight bout was then rescheduled for March. However, Neal got here into the weigh-ins 4 kilos over the restrict and the battle went on as a catchweight.

Joe Rogan anchors the printed through the UFC 281 occasion at Madison Square Garden on Nov. 12, 2022 in New York City. (Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC)

Rakmonov has been preventing in UFC since 2020. He submitted Alex Oliveira at UFC 254. Neal was in Dana White’s Contender Series 3 in 2017, defeating Chase Waldon through TKO. He then beat Brian Camozzi through submission at UFC Fight Night in 2018.