Israel Adesanya knows he made a mistake.
On Sunday, the UFC middleweight champion issued an apology via his Instagram account after making reference to the 9/11 tragedy while trash talking his upcoming opponent, Yoel Romero.
At the time, Adesanya was referencing how Romero is viewed as an unstoppable object, who seemingly can’t be hurt by his opponents.
“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,” Adesanya said at the UFC 248 pre-fight press conference. “I’ll touch him enough times.
“I’ll touch him enough times and eventually he’ll crumble like the Twin Towers.”The terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001 saw the north and south towers of the World Trade Center fall after two passenger jets slammed into the buildings. Nearly 3,000 people lost their lives during the horrific event.
Adesanya faced immediate backlash for the comments including middleweight contender Paulo Costa calling it “disgusting” and adding that he will “really kill” him when they finally meet.
Now the Nigerian born champion has apologized for the insensitive comments.
“I never made a joke about people dying or made light of the tragic event that was 9/11,” Adesanya wrote. “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 is currently in training camp preparing for his March 7 showdown with Romero in the UFC 248 main event.
If he can successful defend his title, Adesanya would then likely move onto face Costa later this year after the Brazilian recovers from a bicep injury that prevented him from competing in March.
