UFC champion Israel Adesanya has defended Joe Rogan after an old video circulated of him repeatedly using a racial slur on his podcast.
Rogan has hosted The Joe Rogan Experience podcast for over a decade, featuring a variety of guests from rapper Kanye West to business magnate Elon Musk.
The podcast has gained more popularity in recent years which led to Rogan signing an exclusive $100million deal with Spotify for its rights.
Rogan has come under fire for discussing his views about Covid-19 on the podcast, with Spotify removing over 100 episodes of it from their platform.
The longtime UFC commentator apologised after a video circulated of him using the n-word from many of his older episodes, with Rogan labelling it the most "shameful" thing he has needed to publicly address.
But UFC middleweight champion Adesanya - who fights Robert Whittaker on Saturday - has come to the defence of Rogan.
“First off, let me take this one, hold up I’m black, I can take this one,” Adesanya said during the UFC 271 pre-fight press conference. “There’s a lot of c**** in this game, there’s a lot of snakes in this game.
“I’ve been in this fight game since 2008 and Joe Rogan is one of the nicest, coolest, humble motherf****** I’ve had the pleasure of working with. Understand that. F*** the noise.”
Rogan had several politicians and celebrities come to his defence after he apologised for the racial slur, including former US President Donald Trump.
Other current and former UFC fighters such as Frankie Edgar, Marlon Vera and Ben Askren have also shared their support for Rogan.
"If they can cancel Joe they can cancel anyone. Time to stand up people," Askren wrote.
Who wins at UFC 271 - Israel Adesanya or Robert Whittaker? Let us know your prediction in the comments section below
Whilst Rogan said that he doesn't regret apologising, he labelled the recirculation of comments he made almost a decade as a "political hitjob".
"That video had always been out there. Like this is a political hit job so they’re taking all this stuff that I’ve ever said that’s wrong and smushed it all together but it’s good because it makes me address some sh*t that I really wish wasn’t out there," he said.
And Adesanya thinks Rogan should ignore his critics and continue to keep being himself.
“You know what they’re trying to do,” Adesanya continued. “You can’t control the man, and he’s got the biggest platform in the world right now. That’s my n**** Joe Rogan.
“[My advice is] f*** the noise. Do what I said, f*** the noise. Keep doing you, Joe. Have some mushrooms, keep doing you.”
