A resurfaced boxing footage from the US Military in Iraq has gone viral for all the wrong reasons. The footage swiftly transitioned from an ill-advised bout to downright disturbing. But for Joe Rogan, it was more baffling than uncomfortable.

The viral clip was the hot topic on the Joe Rogan Experience. Both Rogan and Shane Gillis rewatched the video and attempted to explain how it ever happened. What starts as bravado and adrenaline ends in something neither of them considered interesting, competitive, or even defensible. The reaction wasn’t outrage for clicks but more bewilderment that someone let it continue.

Joe Rogan calls out the fight that never should have happened

The match allegedly took place in 2007 during downtime at an Army base in Iraq. Informal boxing contests were prevalent in those environments, and they often served as a stress reliever in high-pressure situations.

Joe Rogan focused on the imbalance rather than the individuals involved. Watching the video again, he pointed out how clear the imbalance was even before the damage was done. “Someone decided it would be a good idea to have a man box a woman,” Rogan said. He noted that even after being knocked down, the woman continued to charge forward, swinging while the referee attempted to restrain her.

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That aggression, however, did not influence the outcome. “She was very aggressive, but this dude beat the f****** dogs*** out of her,” he simply stated on JRE #2341. What made things worse, as per Rogan, was that the man was not particularly skilled.

“Well, he was terrible. He wasn’t good. He wasn’t good. It was ridiculous. Rogan stated. The punches were neither technical nor accurate, but they didn’t have to be. The power gap alone decided everything. According to Joe Rogan, anyone who claims differently is just delusional.

The UFC commentator also addressed the frequent counterargument that elite female fighters can handle similar scenarios. But even then, he drew a distinct line, using former UFC featherweight champion Amanda Nunes as an example. “Even a strong woman like Amanda Nunez, she’d probably knock out most dudes. But she’s not sparring a guy her weight that’s gonna go full blast.”

It’s not because of a lack of toughness, but because the risk becomes unacceptably high if full-force strength is involved. That was ultimately why the video bothered him. This was not a sanctioned bout, controlled experiment, or regulated exhibition.

It was an informal setting, and no one intervened early enough to stop it. For Joe Rogan, that is the true failure. And it is worth noting that this isn’t the first time he spoke against such inequalities, as the JRE host also shared his take on the major ‘hiccup’ with the gender eligibility debate at the Olympics.

Rogan’s take on the Paris Olympics controversy

Joe Rogan’s problem with imbalance didn’t start with the resurfaced clip. He had already addressed a similar situation during the Imane Khelif scandal at the Paris Olympics last year. Back then, his focus was not on outrage or optics but on the systems designed to keep ambiguity in high-risk competition under control.

On his podcast, Joe Rogan questioned the IOC’s handling of the situation after the IBA disqualified Khelif in 2023 and refused to fully explain the reasons for its decision. What concerned him was not the ending, but the silence in between. “They’re not saying why they’re not legitimate,” Rogan stated, criticizing the IOC for dismissing the tests without providing clear alternatives.

For the JRE host, the absence of explanation produced the same kind of vacuum as in the Iraq boxing video, one in which accountability quietly slips away. His point was narrowly framed around sport, not identity. Joe Rogan suggested that if governing organizations are dealing with something measurable, they should be willing to show their work.

“If you can test for XY chromosome versus XX chromosome, do it, and tell me what the results are. If you can test for testosterone, do it,” he said, explaining that competitive categories exist for a reason. Rogan’s opinion remains the same in both situations: when institutions fail to set clear, transparent lines, athletes are exposed—and it is this reluctance, not the controversy itself, that causes the most harm.