Joe Rogan addresses controversy surrounding referee Marc Goddard's stoppage of Israel Adesanya vs. Alex Pereira clash: "We don’t need to see Izzy with his eyes rolled back behind his head"

UFC commentator Joe Rogan has defended referee Marc Goddard after claims that his stoppage was early during Israel Adesanya vs. Alex Pereira's middleweight title fight.

UFC 281's main event saw long-time rivals Adesanya and Pereira face off in the octagon for the first time on November 12. The pair fought twice as kickboxers, with 'Poatan' victorious on both occasions, including a KO victory. Prior to UFC 281's main event, the finish by Pereira was the only time 'Izzy' had been stopped in his MMA and kickboxing careers.

In the fifth round after a closely contested contest, Adesanya was 3-1 up on the judges' scorecards going into the last round. 'The Last Stylebender' only needed to survive, but Pereira's lightning fast hands eventually caught him.

Adesanya was wobbled with a left hook. While he tried to regroup and duck shots up against the fence, Marc Goddard waved the fight off and a new 185lb champ was crowned.

According to Joe Rogan, the stoppage by Goddard prevented the former champion from taking further damage. The shots 'Poatan' landed were heavy and waving off the bout prevented Israel Adesanya from being KO'd:

"Izzy was stationary and Pereira was gonna hit him with some big shots. We don't need to see Izzy with his eyes rolled back behind his head flat out unconscious. I think it was a good stoppage."

Michael Bisping reacts to Israel Adesanya's airport arrest

Following a disappointing night for Israel Adesanya at UFC 281, things went from bad to worse. He was briefly detained at JFK airport while trying to board a flight home.

'The Last Stylebender' was stopped because a pair of brass knuckles were found in his luggage. According to Adesanya's manager, the knuckles were given to him as a gift, which the former champ didn't open and naively put into his bags.

The situation was quickly resolved and Israel Adesanya was able to board a later flight home to New Zealand without any criminal charges.

Michael Bisping reacted to the news on his YouTube channel and was happy to see that common sense prevailed. While 'The Count' understood it was still a crime, he reminded fans there are fighters in the UFC who have done a lot worse:

"What Izzy did there is nothing compared what Conor, myself, Jon Jones or Rampage did. Jon Jones headbutted a police car...car crashes, the belt stripped, smashing a Bentley into a lampost, hitting a car with a pregnant lady in the car...The point I'm making is, he shouldnt have gone through the aiport with knuckledusters...it's just a little oversight. If he didn't know, he didn't know!"

Catch Bisping's reaction here: