Joe Rogan reveals his ‘favorite moment’ interviewing UFC fighters after victories

Joe Rogan has been a staple of UFC broadcasts for decades. During his time with the MMA promotion, he’s been part of some of the most legendary post-fight interviews in the sport’s history.

Speaking with fellow comedian Felipe Esparza on a recent episode of the Joe Rogan Experience podcast, the UFC commentator opened up on his favorite post-fight interview experience.

It occurred at UFC 287 in 2023, after middleweight legend Israel Adesanya beat Alex Pereira to reclaim the division’s title. It was the pair’s second fight in MMA, and their fourth if you include two showdowns in the kickboxing ring, and Pereira had come out on top every time to date. This time around, however, Adesanya finally came out on top with a stunning knockout victory, which he then capped off with an unforgettable post-fight speech — as Rogan held the microphone.

“This is my favorite moment of anybody after they won a fight,” the UFC commentator said on his podcast. “This was real, in the moment, [beating] a guy who’s the f***ing boogeyman, dude. Alex Pereira is the boogeyman. He’s the scariest mother****er in this sport. He knocked Izzy out twice. He left hook KO’d him in kickboxing, and then he beat him down in the UFC, and then Izzy finally knocked him out.

“That was a f***ing classic moment and then he grabs the microphone and gives one of the most inspirational speeches,” Rogan added. “When you hear [his post-fight speech], you’re like ‘wow. That’s what makes the whole career worth it.'”

You can watch the interview Rogan is referencing below:

Joe Rogan interviews Israel Adesanya after Alex Pereira KO at UFC 287

Rogan went on to explain how inspiring he found Adesanya’s post-fight speech at UFC 287.

“That’s like human fuel,” he said. “You hear somebody say something like that after doing something like that, that can help you all throughout your day. That’s human fuel.”

Clearly, the popular podcaster loves his side-gig with the UFC — particularly when he gets to experience moments like Adesanya’s win over Pereira.

“There’s some historic moments where you can see that, when the fighter wins, it’s a big f***ing deal,” he said.