Israel Adesanya reclaimed his spot at the top of the middleweight division after defeating Alex Pereira at UFC 287. He finished the fight in under two rounds after landing an impressive knockout combination to become a two-time UFC champion. Moreover, he delivered a passionate speech after the fight, which he believes could have landed color commentator Joe Rogan on the UFC’s firing line.

Israel Adesanya seemed unstoppable when he became the undisputed middleweight champion at UFC 243. He went on to have five successful title defenses before losing it to Alex Pereira at UFC 281. However, he bounced back stronger to reclaim the title and become the first middleweight fighter to hold the division’s gold twice.

Israel Adesanya claims he could have landed Joe Rogan in trouble

‘The Last Stylebender’ mentioned his passionate speech on the recent episode of the ‘Impaulsive’ podcast. He stated how elated he felt after finally knocking out his arch-rival, having lost in the previous three encounters. Moreover, he thanked Joe Rogan for letting him hold the microphone after the fight, which the 55-year-old doesn’t normally do. Adesanya said, “I asked Joe [and] I was like, ‘Joe, can I hold the mic real quick?’ He never does that. So shout out to Joe Rogan for letting me hold the mic.”

There have been a lot of instances when fighters go off the rails during their post-fight Octagon interview. Adesanya was aware of that and mentioned how his actions could have proved detrimental to Rogan if he had chosen to say something that the UFC wouldn’t have liked. But he kept it clean and shared a message that would inspire many fans from all over the world. Adesanya added, “I could have been like, I could have said something stupid and they’re [the UFC] like, ‘Get him off the mic.'”

‘The Last Stylebender’ was “hurt” when Pereira’s son mocked him

Israel Adesanya opened up about the infamous victory celebration at UFC 287 involving him mocking ‘Poatan’s son. Izzy claimed that he doesn’t necessarily hold any grudge against anyone. But when Pereira’s son mocked him after his second kickboxing fight loss, it affected him negatively. Adesanya said, “What his [Pereira] kid did to me after that fight [2nd kickboxing fight against Pereira] hurt me the wrong way.”

The two-time champion stated that he didn’t really hold on to the mockery as a grudge, but decided to let it out when he got the opportunity. He added, “I didn’t really hold on to it but it was sitting there. It was just in the archives and when the time came I was like, ‘Oh, let me go through the files. That’s right, he did that sh*t.”

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Israel Adesanya was clearly over the moon after his biggest career win. He also created many records after reclaiming his title. However, fans believe that he has a lot more to offer at just 33 years of age. We will have to see how things pan out for the two-time UFC champion in the future.

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