UFC fighter Israel Adesanya has defended under-fire Podcaster, and commentator Joe Rogan over his use of the N-word, calling those dragging him as ‘Noise makers’.
Adesanya had jumped in the defence of Joe Rogan when during his UFC 271 pre-fight news conference, promotion president Dana White was asked about recent controversies involving commentator Joe Rogan, which included hosting controversial guests and a resurfaced montage video of him using a the “N-word.”
It wasn’t even a question directed at the UFC fighter Israel Adesanya, but intercepted it when it was asked.
White didn’t get a chance to answer, as Adesanya took it upon himself to hold court. The UFC middleweight champion passionately defended the UFC commentator and advised him to block out negative comments.
“First off, let me take this one,” Adesanya said. “Hold up. I’m Black. I can take this one. Look, there’s a lot of cnts in this game. There are a lot of snakes in this game. I’ve been in this fight game since 2008. Joe Rogan is one of the nicest, coolest, humble motherfckers I’ve had the pleasure of working with. Understand that.
“Fck the noise. You know what they’re trying to do. You can’t control the man. He’s got the biggest platform in the world right now. That’s my ngga Joe Rogan. F*ck the noise. … Just keep doing you, Joe. Have some mushrooms. Keep doing you.”
After the press conference, Adesanya elaborated with additional thoughts on the situation (via Instagram):
“United we stand, divided we fall.”
We are living in very strange times. When a voice speaks out against the mainstream narrative, the establishment have a systematic way of shutting said voice down. I’m not asking you to think like me, I encourage you to turn off your tv and think for yourself. Don’t let them pull the wool over your eyes…FUCKTHENOISE,” he said.
Adesanya (21-1 MMA, 10-1 UFC) rematches former champion Robert Whittaker (23-5 MMA, 14-5 UFC) in the pay-per view main event Saturday at Toyota Center. Rogan is expected to be on commentary for the event for the first time since apologizing for his use of the racial slur.