UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya admits he made a mistake when he talked trash to his challenger, Yoel Romero.
In the build up to their upcoming UFC 248 main event title fight, ‘The Last Stylebender’ dismissed the idea that the Cuban fighter is an unstoppable force.
Referencing the September 11, 2001 tragedy at the World Trade Center, he predicts Romero will crumble like the Twin Towers.
“He’s human like anyone else, and everyone likes to make this myth about, ‘Oh, he’s steel, like kicking steel,’ or you hit him and he doesn’t fall,” he told the media at the UFC 248 pre-fight press conference (per MMA Fighting).
“I’ll touch him enough times.”
“I’ll touch him enough times and eventually he’ll crumble like the Twin Towers.”
More Careful
After drawing the ire of MMA fans, the reigning middleweight champion took to his Instagram story to apologize for his comments and promised to become more careful with his words next time.
“I never made a joke about people dying or made light of the tragic event that was 9/11,” Adesanya said.
“I was simply rambling and my brain worked faster than my mouth in a moment to chose the wrong euphemism.”
“You speak on the mic enough times and you’re bound to miss the mark with some bars.”
“I did on this one and for that I’m sorry. I’ll be more careful in future with my words.”
Adesanya will put his middleweight strap on the line when he headlines the UFC 248 fight card on March 7 opposite Romero.
It will be his first official title-defence since unifying the middleweight titles by defeating Robert Whittaker at UFC 243 in October.
In seven UFC bouts, the Kiwi-Nigerian fighter remains unscathed, with victims including Anderson Silva and Kelvin Gastelum, and Derek Brunson.
Disgusting
Middleweight contender Paulo Costa has slammed Adesanya for his ‘disgusting remarks,’ saying he will ‘kill’ him when they cross path inside the Octagon.
“Adesanya, you are a disgusting piece of sh*t,” the Brazilian fighter wrote on Twitter.
“How dare you make a joke disrespecting the thousands who died and the heroic fighters and police.”
“I will really kill you, dirty kiwi.”
Costa will likely earn the next title shot once he returns from injury.
He was being linked to a potential fight with Adesanya after narrowly beating Romero at UFC 241 but a bicep injury will keep him on the sidelines for approximately eight months.
(Featured Image Source: Instagram/ Yoel Romero and YouTube/ MMA Fighting On SBN)