Joe Rogan and Sean O'Malley look back at Israel Adesanya nearly knocking Alex Pereira out at UFC 281

Joe Rogan and Sean O'Malley recently discussed how close Israel Adesanya came to knocking out Alex Pereira at UFC 281.

Pereira beat Adesanya via fifth-round TKO at UFC 281. Despite seemingly being down on the scorecards and en route to a loss, 'Poatan' caught the then-champion with a series of heavy shots, prompting the referee to intervene with just three minutes left in the fight.

Towards the end of the first round of their championship clash, Adesanya caught Pereira with a quick combination, putting the challenger on skates momentarily. The Brazilian was arguably saved by the bell.

Sean O'Malley, in a recent episode of The JRE MMA Show, discussed the UFC 281 headliner with Rogan. 'Sugar' stated that if there were just a few more seconds left in the first round when Adesanya landed his combination, he might've been able to finish the fight early:

"F*****g Izzy had him. 10 more seconds of that first round. No, two or three more seconds of that first round."

Rogan agreed with O'Malley's assessment, saying:

"Oh my god. First round he was f****d."

Watch Joe Rogan and Sean O'Malley talk about the UFC 281 main event below:

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Joe Rogan praises Israel Adesanya for how he handled his title loss

Joe Rogan shared his appreciation for the way Israel Adesanya handled his loss to Alex Pereira at UFC 281 and claimed 'The Last Stylebender' did it "better than anybody ever."

On a recent episode of the The Joe Rogan Experience alongside Steve-O (#1900), the 55-year-old gave Adesanya credit for his graceful acceptance of defeat:

“Dude, the way he [Israel Adesanya] responded to that loss is better than anybody ever. The dude shows up to the press conference with a f****** fur coat like a king. Dope-a** watch on and just says, 'He [Alex Pereira] got me.'

Rogan added:

"Then he went on Andrew Schulz's podcast on Monday... They were drinking, having fun. He handled it very, very well..."

Watch Joe Rogan talk about Israel Adesanya's loss below:

Israel Adesanya will likely get a rematch with Alex Pereira next year, considering his accomplishments in the UFC thus far. Now 0-3 against Pereira across MMA and kickboxing, 'The Last Stylebender' will be itching to re-claim his title and get his revenge.