“You’re not going to beat me. I’m prepared to die,” said Israel Adesanya in the final round of his interim title fight against Kelvin Gastelum. This clash marked a pivotal moment in Adesanya’s rise, serving as a defining event in his journey to becoming a phenomenal UFC champion. Arguably, one of the best fights in recent memory, the promotion has now inducted the fight into the Hall of Fame at UFC 312 and the entry has Joe Rogan’s green light.

At the UFC 312 broadcast, the promotion officially announced that the unforgettable clash between Israel Adesaya and Kelvin Gastelum of UFC 236 will be enshrined forever in the UFC Hall of Fame’s Fight Wing, Class of 2025. “Gastelum vs. Adesanya is one of the greatest fights I’ve ever seen in my life,” White declared. Well, Dana White isn’t the only one who considers the clash one of the greatest in UFC history—Joe Rogan has also voiced his approval of its induction.

When the promotion announced the induction of the fight at the UFC Hall Of Fame, Fight Wing, Joe Rogan was having the time of his life with his friends at JRE Fight Companion, “Oh! He is a Hall of Fame inductee, Fight Wing! The Kelvin Gastelum fight—oh my God! F–k yeah, that’s well worth it. One of the greatest fights of all time! Yeah, for the Kelvin Gastelum fight. That was an amazing fight, probably one of the greatest fights!

Israel Adesanya was an up-and-coming young lad with a five-fight winning streak in his UFC career when he was placed against Kelvin Gastelum. From the moment the cage door shut in Atlanta, Georgia, fans witnessed one of the most enthralling fights that happened in the Octagon. Battling for the interim middleweight title, Adesanya and Gastelum left no stone unturned to defeat each other. With both fighters pushed to the brink of their limits, ‘Izzy’ overpowered Gastelum in the final rounds to capture the interim middleweight title

The bout earned Fight of the Night honors and later claimed Fight of the Year at the UFC Honors. Now, its legacy is forever immortalized in the Hall of Fame—where it truly belongs. And what if we were to say that the fight was such an amazing clash that even the referee cried that night?

Marc Goddard was emotional as he recalls refereeing Kelvin Gastelum vs Israel Adesanya

Marc Goddard was given the task of being the referee of the UFC 236 clash between Israel Adesanya and Kelvin Gastelum. The veteran referee reveals that as he did his job, he nearly cried after witnessing Adesanya and Gastelum going on a fallout war against each other. While having a conversation with Talksport Uncaged, Goddard revealed the emotional depth that he experienced during the fight.

“That fight, when you’ve got two fighters that went into the deepest, f***ing darkest depths of their soul. Deepest, darkest waters imaginable or possible in a fight, and I was alongside them, standing three feet away, witnessing this unfold. You watch the fight when it finishes. I run off straight away, I know they’re safe. Head in my hands, and I won’t be ashamed to say I’ve cried after that fight. Watching it back, because it was ungodly what those guys did, it was ungodly,” said Goddard.

Bruised and bleeding, both the fighters ended that night with the Fight of the Night bonus, and as the UFC immortalizes them in history, what are your thoughts on this iconic clash? State your thoughts in the comments below.