VIDEO: Joe Rogan Reacts in Real Time to UFC 249 Cancellation News and Looks Really Relieved

Nothing is certain anymore in these days of COVID-19; at this point, even Dana White's agonizingly defiant swagger isn't strong enough to overcome social distancing and stay-at-home directives. That's a very good thing overall, but that didn't make Thursday's news that the UFC was putting its upcoming events calendar on hold under pressure from Disney and ESPN any less surprising to Joe Rogan. While recording an episode of his "Joe Rogan Experience" podcast, we witnessed the comedian and longtime UFC commentator learn that April 18's scheduled UFC 249 pay-per-view was indeed cancelled in real time, and his candid reaction was illuminating.

Rogan recently expressed that he was unsure what his role would be, if any, in the in-house media coverage of UFC 249, which was reportedly set to take place at the Tachi Palace Casino Resort in California's Central Valley after being forced to relocate from Brooklyn's Barclays Center. Those plans fell through thanks to the insistence of ol' Mickey Mouse over intense and understandable coronavirus fears, which meant Rogan was off the hook.

You can see in his face just how much of a load off his mind this news really was. Naturally, Dana White later insisted that Rogan would have absolutely been on hand to call the action on the April 18 fight card, but as with similar fabulist carnival barkers as Vince McMahon and Donald Trump, it's hard to separate bluster from reality when White opens his mouth on the record.

We can't know just when mixed martial arts will be able to continue, which finally and mercifully places this sport in the same boat as the rest of them.

It's a shame that it took this long for the UFC to come to grips with the extent of the intense challenges America and the world are facing, but let's co-sign with Rogan here: It's a relief to know that athletes and event staff won't be placed at such unnecessary, preventable risk.