MMA Insider Criticizes Joe Rogan’s Views on Canada: ‘Just misrepresenting my country.’
MMA analyst James Lynch has publicly criticized Joe Rogan’s recent statements about Canada, calling them “ignorant” and “misinformed.” In a video posted on his YouTube channel on March 25, 2025, Lynch, who is based in Canada, responded to Rogan’s claim that he would “rather go to Russia” than travel to Canada.
Joe Rogan’s Opinion on Canada
James Lynch refuted Joe Rogan’s portrayal of Canada as a country with severely limited freedoms, stating, “We do not live in a communist society. It’s not heading that way.” He argued that many Americans would be surprised to find that life in Canada is very similar to that in the United States. “I don’t think it’s this bad country like Rogan’s making it out to be.”
The MMA expert expressed his frustration with Rogan’s comments, emphasizing that they misrepresent the reality of life in Canada. I can’t let a guy like Joe Rogan, who I admire a lot, come out here and just misrepresent my country, so I got a big issue with that,” Lynch stated.
He also addressed Rogan’s comparison of Canada to Russia, pointing out the hypocrisy in Rogan’s preference for Russia, given its stricter laws, particularly regarding drug use. Lynch referenced the case of WNBA player Brittney Griner, who faced a potential nine-year prison sentence in Russia for drug possession, contrasting it with Canada’s completely legal marijuana laws.
Canada ranks 11th globally on the Human Freedom Index, while the United States is tied for 17th place with the United Kingdom. Canada also outperforms Russia in several key quality-of-life indicators. The Human Freedom Index for Canada is 8.74, compared to Russia’s 5.35, and life expectancy in Canada (81.3 years) is notably higher than in Russia (72.5 years). Additionally, lower-income Canadians often pay less in taxes than their American counterparts for the services they receive
Joe Rogan’s comments came in the context of his decision not to commentate at UFC 315 in Montreal. Lynch noted that Rogan also did not commentate at UFC 297 in Toronto the previous year.
“To compare and and make it out like Canada is some terrible country and Russia is somehow better Idon’t agree with that and again this video is not to crap on Russia I’m just saying that like you can’t sit here and tell me that the US and Canada are drastically different when I’m telling you as someone who’s been to both it’s not the case … .it actually drives me nuts when people say this because they’re not doing proper research talking about this.
“And I think guys like Rogan saying, ‘I’d rather go to Russia,’ I think that’s just a terrible take here. Now look, I’m not a Joe Rogan hater by any means. This is probably one of the first videos I’ve ever done on him, but I will speak up if people are talking badly about the country I live.”
