“Like a King” – Joe Rogan left amazed by Israel Adesanya’s graceful show of sportsmanship despite the title loss to Alex Pereira
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Joe Rogan (L) Israel Adesanya (R)
Israel Adesanya recently lost to Alex Pereira in one of the most high-stakes fights of the year, at UFC 281. Going into it, most people could have anticipated a KO finish for Pereira, but not in the fashion and at the time that it came.
Joe Rogan, who called the fight last Sunday, spoke about the aftermath of the fight with guest Steve-O, on his podcast. He said, “Dude, the way he responded to that loss is better than anybody ever, The dude shows up to the press conference with a f****** fur coat like a king. Dope-ass watch on and just says, ‘He got me.’”
He continued his high praise for Adesanya, saying, “He basically said ‘the hunter is now the hunted, I’m coming after him, I’m going to find a way to beat that dude. I was on my way to beating him, and he got me.’”
How a champion handles a defeat tells a lot about the mettle they are made of. Usually, newly dethroned champions do not attend press conferences the way Israel Adesanya did after his loss to Alex Pereira. By doing that, he laid out the roadmap for what a true champion is made of. In a similar vein, Glover Teixeira and Kamaru Usman also handled their title losses this year in truly graceful fashion, against Jiri Prochazka and Leon Edwards, respectively. Check out the former champion’s post-fight presser below.
Joe Rogan attributes THIS to the eventual loss of Israel Adesanya against Alex Pereira
Going into the fifth round, it would be safe to assert that Adesanya had the title defence in the bag. In all of the judges’ scorecards, the Nigerian Kiwi was up 39-37, implying that he had won three rounds as opposed to Pereira’s one.
However, as is the unpredictable nature of the sport, the Brazilian caught Adesanya with a nasty left to the chin, and from there, it only went downhill for the former champion. Joe Rogan attributes the eventual loss to “The Last Stylebender’s” impaired movement. Speaking about it, he said, “He was honest about all of it. About how Pereira landed a bunch of calf kicks early on and f***** up his leg and he couldn’t move right. Those calf kicks have changed the game.”
Hence, even in defeat, Adesanya credited Pereira’s nasty leg kicks for damaging his peroneal nerve, leading to the eventual stoppage. That being said, it only makes sense to award the former champion with an immediate rematch owing to the nature of his dominance over the last three years, in the division. It will be interesting to see if he can reverse a 3-0 deficit to his nemesis.
Also Read- Joe Rogan goes off on Vegan’s trying to mimic meat as he promotes Indian vegetarian cuisine
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Udayan Mukherjee
(382 Articles Published)