"After the Overeem fight" - Israel Adesanya clarifies why Joe Rogan ceased interviewing fighters post-knockout
Former UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya revealed the reason behind UFC commentator and media personality Joe Rogan not interviewing fighters in the octagon if they have been brutally knocked out.
Adesanya spoke to Theo Von on his podcast This Past Weekend and discussed the threat of getting knocked out and self-preservation. He expressed appreciation towards Rogan for his stance of not interviewing fighters after they were knocked out and also revealed when Rogan started speaking out against it. 'The Last Stylebender' said:
“I mean, that’s why Joe [Rogan] – shoutout to him – he stopped interviewing guys after they’ve been knocked out. [Oh really?] Yeah, he said that. I think it was after the [Alistair] Overeem fight. Overeem did a famous meme saying, he says, ‘I clearly felt a tap’ cause he had Stipe in a guillotine and he thought he tapped. But again, he just got rocked so, your brain is not really all there. I’ve been knocked out before, like cold – once – shoutout to [Alex] Pereira. I returned the favor.”
Check out Israel Adesanya's full comments below (4:00):
Adesanya mentioned Alistair Overeem's interview with Rogan right after he was knocked out cold after significant ground and pound by then-heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic at UFC 203. In the post-fight interview, Overeem, who was clearly concussed, suggested that Miocic had tapped in the fight.
Check out Joe Rogan's octagon interview with Alistair Overeem:
Rogan wasted no time in taking to X (formerly known as Twitter) and addressing the issue, claiming to have brought it up with those in charge at the UFC. He wrote:
"I asked the UFC brass if we could please refrain from interviewing fighters after they've been KO'ed. I don't think it's wise nor fair."
Check out Joe Rogan's post below:
Israel Adesanya claims he was turned down by Dricus du Plessis for UFC 300 matchup
Israel Adesanya has been out of action since he lost his title in a shock upset to Sean Strickland at UFC 293.
Strickland has since been bested by Dricus du Plessis, who currently sits atop the middleweight division. Adesanya mentioned to Theo Von on his podcast that the two could have faced off at the upcoming UFC 300 card for his return to action and du Plessis' first title defense.
However, according to Adesanya, 'Stillknocks' and his camp did not accept the fight. He said:
"There’s some things that were meant to happen. They summoned me, I’m sure this is out there now... But they summoned me for [UFC] 300 and I was like ‘yep, let’s roll.’ But their side didn’t want it. They didn’t want it."
Check out Israel Adesanya's comments below: