"He is a true martial artist" - Valentina Shevchenko explains defending Joe Rogan against Ronda Rousey's "he's not an expert" comments

Valentina Shevchenko recently defended Joe Rogan after Ronda Rousey dismissed the veteran podcaster being an expert in martial arts. While Shevchenko admitted that she admired Rousey's lifestyle and career, she wasn't happy about the UFC Hall of Famer's comments about Rogan.

For context, Rousey recently sat down with comedian Bert Kreischer in an episode of his Bertcast podcast and questioned Rogan's expertise on professional fighting. During their conversation, Rousey responded to a question about Rogan's overall fighting knowledge and said:

“He’s not an expert, he’s a fan with an audience. He’s never fought... Taekwondo is not fighting.”

While Shevchenko expressed her support for Rogan via an X post last week, she expanded on that during a UFC 322 media day interview ahead of her fight against Zhang Weili. She said:

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"I’m for justice and I like Ronda, I like her lifestyle, being close to nature and animals and farm and anything like that, she’s a great champion, but I feel in this particular case it was not right to say these things that she said. Joe Rogan is a true example for the youth. He is a true martial artist. He has a lot of knowledge in martial arts, and he’s a successful man. He’s very talented, and it’s just not right to say those things. I felt that when there is no justice, no, it’s something wrong."

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Joe Rogan reacts to Ronda Rousey's recent comments questioning his expertise in martial arts

Joe Rogan recently responded to Ronda Rousey dismissing him as an expert in martial arts. Rogan made it clear that Rousey's comments didn't bother him at all and explained how her "champion" mindset played into her thought process.

Given Rogan's background in taekwondo and jiu-jitsu and the fact that he's been a core member of the UFC commentary team for over two decades, many slammed Rousey's comments online and pushed back against her take.

In a recent episode of the Joe Rogan Experience podcast with Jeff Dye (JRE #2410), the veteran podcaster shared his reaction to Rousey's comments (via @HappyPunch on X). Breaking down why he wasn't upset about Rousey's criticisms, he said:

"The Ronda Rousey one didn't really bother me. I know what that is. She's a f**king pitbull, man. She’s a legend. I’ve got nothing but love and respect for that lady... She made the female divisions possible... When she said I wasn’t an expert, everyone’s entitled to their opinion, but you have to understand why she thinks like that. She has a champion mentality. You never fought? You ain’t sh*t. It’s that simple…I get it, it’s totally fine."

Edited by Nishant Zende.