"It's the casuals, man" - Joe Rogan and Kamaru Usman blast fans for still trying to keep MMA a "bloodsport"

Joe Rogan and Kamaru Usman slammed fans for still trying to keep MMA a bloodpsort in a recent interaction on The Joe Rogan Experience. The pair were discussing the unfair negative criticism that middleweight champion Israel Adesanya has been receiving from fans for his recent performances.

MMA fans often resort to online sneering in an effort to bring down fighters. They are quick to express their lack of enthusiasm if any fight fails to deliver to the hype. Israel Adesanya was subject to such behavior during his fifth title defense fight against Jared Cannonier at UFC 276.

Joe Rogan and Kamaru Usman chastised this mentality of fans for still viewing the sport as human cockfighting while speaking in defense of Adesanya. Rogan used the Tyron Woodley vs. Stephen Thompson fights as an example when fans started fault-finding 'The Chosen One's approach:

"That's my same criticism of people that were saying that when Tyron Woodley fought Wonderboy, that he fought him wrong. Like no, he's the only guy that fought him right. You have to fight him that way. You cannot be chasing down one of the best counterstrikers that's competed in the division.''

Usman added that the fans are still trying to keep MMA a "bloodsport":

"They wanted to see Tyron hurt, and then battle back, and then Wonderboy hurt, and then him battle back. It's crazy. I feel like people are still trying to keep it a bloodsport. They want to keep it that way."

Rogan interjected and condemned such fans:

"It's just the casuals, man. It's people that don't understand the actual events that are taking place."

Catch the full episode of Kamaru Usman's appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience below:

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"This is the same problem that Anderson Silva had" - Joe Rogan and Kamaru Usman on Israel Adesanya criticism

MMA fans gave a lot of stick to UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya for his performance against Jared Cannonier at UFC 276. While Adesanya displayed exceptional footwork and unassailable defense, the MMA community mocked him for his lack of urgency to finish fights.

Joe Rogan addressed the criticism alongside former welterweight champion Kamaru Usman on The Joe Rogan Experience. He claimed that while Adesanya is doing the right thing, he is going through a similar situation that MMA legend Anderson Silva was once in:

"Look if Jared wanted to get wild and crazy, Izzy would have probably knocked him out. But Jared fought the way he should've fought and Izzy fought the way he should've fought and the better man won. And that's what prize fighting is all about."

During his time as the longest reigning champion in the UFC that included 16 consecutive victories, Anderson Silva was part of some lackluster fights. MMA fans were severely critical of Silva's fights against Demian Maia and Thales Leites. Rogan added:

"This is the same problem that Anderson Silva had. When Anderson Silva was in his prime, some guys would fight him in a very cautious way and people would say 'Well he should've pushed the action.' That's not what you do."

Do check out this special video on Nate Diaz: