It’s been almost 2 years since UFC 287, when Israel Adesanya exacted years of revenge on his arch rival Alex Pereira. But for Joe Rogan, the highlight of the night was not the KO, or the stone-cold bow and arrow celebration by ‘Izzy’. It was the Hollywood-esque post-fight speech that Adesanya came up with.
In conversation with comedian Deric Poston, Rogan retold the tale of the frenemies who fought each other four times throughout their careers, with Pereira having his hand raised thrice.
It wasn’t like Izzy was just outmatched either. It would always be a close fight, but Pereira would just somehow edge out the Kiw… until UFC 287 in 2023. In a desperate attempt to reclaim his lost middleweight title, Adesanya would come from behind in round 2 and catch ‘Poatan’ with a cross to lay him out cold.
In the aftermath, he would mock the fallen champion with his own celebration and then deliver a motivational speech that could only be bettered by Hans Zimmer’s ‘Now We Are Free’ soundtrack from ‘Gladiator’ ringing in the background.
“It sounds like 15 writers sat in a room and came up with the lines”, a goosebumped Rogan said. Poston seconded him and chimed in with, “If that was in the movie Gladiator, I’d be like, oh yeah that’s how good that is.”
To be fair, that is how good Adesanya’s speech was. What impressed Rogan more was that the speech wasn’t probably scripted at all. He seems to believe that Adesanya came up with it in the moment.
“I didn’t even ask him. I should ask him next time I talk to him. I bet that just came right out in the moment, just right there. It was a perfect event for him…You couldn’t script that better in a movie. To see him (Pereira) flattened out cold. Wooo“, said Rogan, reimagining the sheer exhilaration for Adesanya in the moment.
Adesanya’s ‘Foritfy your mind’ speech
Elated that he had finally gotten the job done for the fourth time of trying, Izzy told people that he hoped they could at least just once feel how happy he was in that moment.
“But guess what, you will never feel this level of happiness if you don’t go for something in your own life – when they knock you down, when they try to s**t on you, when they talk s**t about you, and try and put their foot on your neck”, he continued.
Telling people not to stay down, he added, “Fortify your mind and feel this level of happiness, and let’s rise. One time in your life… but I’m blessed to be able to feel that, again and again and again and again and again!”
Adesanya didn’t stop there. He gave Pereira props for being a great champion and he would always be one, but admitted to being the villain of the Brazilian’s story.
“In his story, I’m the antagonist….But tonight is my story… history! I told you, the hunter is now the hunted. I told him this before. Thank you. Thank you for all that you’ve done”, Izzy proclaimed.
Notably, Rogan has been with the UFC since 1997. So it must take something truly special for him to remember a post-fight interview.
