“Will Grab It and Play a Game”- Israel Adesanya Inspired by Joe Rogan’s Life Mantra 146 Days After Famous Interview With UFC Commentator

Who is the UFC fighter that comes to mind when you think of a fighter who is really popular among fans, is the champion of a division, and is one of the most skilled fighters on the roster? While there are only a handful of names, UFC Middleweight champ Israel Adesanya is definitely one of them! The Stylebender has achieved what most other fighters couldn’t and is continuing to do so.

Adesanya was undefeated in the Middleweight division till he fought his old nemesis and fellow Middleweight fighter, Alex Pereira. The two first fought back in 2022. Pereira was the first one to hand Adesanya his first defeat in the Middleweight division. It seems, that even to this day, that fight has been etched in his memory, along with something Joe Rogan said.

Israel Adesanya is inspired by Joe Rogan and his life mantra

Adesanya is one of those people who is rarely inspired by people. It takes a fair bit for someone to earn his respect. But it seems that UFC commentator and podcast host Joe Rogan is someone who has inspired Adesanya and has helped him move on from his losses in life – thanks to one simple mantra.

In a recent interview with TSN for YouTube, the interviewer asked Adesanya if he still taps into his ‘dark side’ and thinks about his loss at UFC 281 – to Alex Pereira.

“The Alex fight… yeah, I’ve watched it back. It was on YouTube a couple days ago so I watched it again. I was like oh! Okay, let me just see… you know, just see where I was at because I haven’t watched it in a month and I watched it again and I was like oh… okay cool. Fun moment. Still gives me chills, but now we move on to the next one.“, answered the Stylebender. 

Fans of Adesanya know that he is a huge anime fan. Referencing that, the interviewer asked Adesanya if he thought that his life was akin to that of the anime that he watches. “Yeah. All our lives are like that but we just have to grab the controller – be player one. But, all our lives – like that’s how it is. We all live in our movies so…“, replied Adesanya, before he started to talk about how Joe Rogan inspired him with nothing but his words. 

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“As Joe Rogan said, be the hero in your own movie and that’s the same concept that I kind of had with player one, and all those who know how to grab a controller, will grab it and play a game.“, added the Middleweight champ.

It was refreshing to see Adesanya acknowledge the fact that Rogan truly did change his outlook on life at some point. Now, the question is whether he will tap into his dark side for Sean Strickland or whether he is saving that for Dricus Du Plessis.

Throwback to when Israel Adesanya defended Joe Rogan – UFC 271

This wouldn’t be the first time that Israel Adesanya has showered Joe Rogan with love and respect. Adesanya was scheduled to fight Robert Whittaker for UFC 271 and during the pre-fight press conference, UFC President Dana White was asked a question about a certain Joe Rogan controversy. Before White could answer, the Stylebender stepped in and defended Rogan saying that the media was trying to bring him down and malign him.

He also proceeded to say that he strongly believed that Rogan’s name was being dragged through the mud. Rogan had also returned the favor. On one of his podcast episodes, Rogan had said that Israel Adesanya is “one of the baddest motherf*****s on Earth” and a “straight-up assassin”. However, he also called him “a cool guy” and “friendly“.

The relationship between Joe Rogan and Israel Adesanya is reflective of how they are as individuals. Now, Adesanya is gearing up to fight Sean Strickland at UFC 293. Who do you think Joe Rogan has placed his bets on?

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