Joe Rogan praises Israel Adesanya’s response to loss to Alex Pereira at UFC 281: “The way he responded to that loss is better than anybody ever”

Joe Rogan has praised Israel Adesanya‘s response following his loss at UFC 281.

Last Saturday night, ‘The Last Stylebender’ returned to the octagon for yet another title defense. Standing opposite Adesanya was former kickboxing champion, Alex Pereira. In kickboxing, the two men already faced off twice, with the Brazilian winning both times.

At UFC 281, ‘Poaton’ once again defeated the middleweight titleholder. Trailing on the scorecards heading into the fifth and final round, Pereira was able to get a stunning knockout win. Although Adesanya protested the stoppage, it was too little, too late.

Following a defeat such as that, most fighters would be distraught. However, Israel Adesanya is not like most. Following the loss, he’s gone on several podcasts and spoken candidly about the defeat. He also chose to face the music at the post-fight press conference, where Adesanya was open about the devastating loss and even joked about it.

That sort of openness and humility didn’t go unnoticed by UFC commentator Joe Rogan. On his podcast alongside Steve-O, the comedian praised Adesanya. Rogan opined that the former middleweight champion responded the greatest he’s ever seen to a loss.

(via Cooper Neill/NBAE via Getty Images)

“Dude, the way he responded to that loss is better than anybody ever,” stated Rogan on his podcast. “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’.

He continued, “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.”

In addition to handling the loss well, Israel Adesanya has already made it clear he wants to face Alex Pereira again. The former champion has predicted that he will face the Brazilian twice more before all is said and done.

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