In an epic mix-up, former ESPN anchor Sage Steele mistook UFC President Dana White for Joe Rogan, and obviously, Uncle Dana wasn’t too thrilled.
UFC President Dana White dropped by The Sage Steele Show recently but in what turned out to be a disaster, the podcast host thought that White was Joe Rogan. What’s funny was the two had spent more than an hour talking on the show and Steele had no idea about the mistaken identity. It wasn’t until she asked her final question that she realised there was a mix-up.
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“What’s Joe Rogan’s dream?” Steele asked.
An irritated White replied by repeating her question. At that point, she realised that she made a big blunder: “Joe Rogan – Dana White…What’s Dana White’s dream?” she asked again.
“Did you think I was Joe Rogan?” asked a bewildered White. ” She just called me fu**** Joe Rogan! You thought I was fu**** Joe Rogan? I flew here from Vegas and she thought she was interviewing Joe Rogan.” said White while breaking into a huge laugh. “If you call me Howie Mandel before I leave here, that’s a wrap. All of us bald white guys look alike so it makes sense.”
Dana then tried to hold it together by telling a story of him once being mistaken for Mandel when he gambled at The Mirage. Luckily for Steele, Mandel was on the set and he somewhat took the awkward energy away. Still, it was ridiculous that someone like Steele would mistake Uncle Dana for Joe Rogan.
The show was doomed right from the start because she already referred to White as Joe but no one noticed.
Steele is a former anchor of ESPN’s SportsCenter and had worked for ESPN/Disney since 2007. She’s covered MMA before and has interviewed UFC fighters in the past so it was a surprise to the viewers and a shock to her guest that she didn’t know the difference between Dana White and Joe Rogan.
Although White tried to laugh it off, you could read between his lines that he didn’t appreciate the mistaken identity. You couldn’t blame him though. He flew all the way from Vegas to be there only to find out that Steele was expecting Rogan.
But it’s a good thing White was in a good mood because he can be harsh sometimes. Just ask Howie Mandel himself. Last month, White stormed off Mandel’s podcast after 30 seconds because he didn’t like Howie’s introduction.