Israel Adesanya lost his middleweight title rather unceremoniously. Adesanya was leading 3-1 going into the 5th round. He then discovered he was having an issue with his peroneal nerve which is sometimes referred to as the ‘drop foot’.
He was crowded by Pereira, who had proceeded to land several heavy strikes and wobble him. While Adesanya insists it was mostly his leg that was giving off the appearance that he was compromised, many believe ref was right to call it and prevent him from taking a needless amount of punishment.
Joe Rogan has been a fan of Adesanya for quite a while and remains a fan. He praised Adesanya’s handling of the loss.
UFC commentator Joe Rogan took note of that kind of humility and candor. The comedian lauded Adesanya on his podcast with Steve-O.
According to Rogan, the former middleweight champion had the best reaction to defeat he had ever seen.
“Dude, the way he responded to that loss is better than anybody ever. The dude shows up to the press conference with a f*cking fur coat, like a king. Dope-ass watch on and just says, ‘He got me’.”
“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’.
Rogan continued by saying,
“He was honest about all of it. About how Pereira landed a bunch of calf kicks early on and f*cked up his leg… But it was just hilarious, Izzy was saying ‘Bring back Steve Mazzagatti’. Then he went on Andrew Schultz’s podcast on Monday, they were drinking and having fun. He handled it very, very well.”
Along with taking the defeat properly, Israel Adesanya has already stated his desire to compete against Alex Pereira once again. Before everything is said and done, the former champion anticipates seeing the Brazilian two more times.
https://youtu.be/a2raL1A_RtU