Israel Adesanya Slammed For 'Twin Towers' Comment When Discussing Yoel Romero

Israel Adesanya has come under fire for tasteless comments claiming rival Yoel Romero will 'crumble like the Twin Towers' at UFC 248.

Adesanya is set to defend his middleweight title against rival Romero next month in Las Vegas.

When asked in a press conference about downing his opponent 'The Last Stylebender', who has apologised for the remark since, stated per Yahoo Sports:

"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. I'll touch him enough times.

PA

"I'll touch him enough times and eventually he'll crumble like the Twin Towers."

The statement is in relation to the September 11 tragedy back in 2001, which saw the USA rocked by terrorist attacks that left 2,606 dead at the World Trade Center.

"He's [Romero] a guy no one wants to fight," the Nigerian went on to say.

"Boogeyman, everyone keeps saying, oh - even Darren Till - 'I'll fight anyone except Yoel.' Like, why? I've seen him get rocked. I've seen him get stopped. I've seen him get bloodied. I've seen him cry. I'll make him cry."

Many have criticised Adesanya for the reference and he took to Instagram on Sunday to apologise.

He posted to his story:

"I never made a joke about people dying or made light of the tragic event that was 9/11. I was simply rambling and my brain worked faster than my mouth in a moment to choose 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 the future with my words."

The 30-year-old also addressed Romero being a 'boogeyman' and claimed he'll 'make him cry' when they square off.

"He's a guy no one wants to fight," Adesanya said in New Zealand.

"Boogeyman, everyone keeps saying, oh - even Darren Till - 'I'll fight anyone except Yoel.' Like, why? I've seen him get rocked. I've seen him get stopped. I've seen him get bloodied. I've seen him cry. I'll make him cry."

Another bout on the card has also been tarred with controversial statements in recent months.

Joanna Jedrzejczyk will challenge Zhang Weili for the women's strawweight title and attempted to get into the Chinese star's head with a coronavirus joke.

Topics: UFC News, MMA News, Yoel Romero, UFC, MMA, Israel Adesanya

Daniel Marland

Daniel is a journalist for SPORTbible and he has previous experience with Manchester United. He has spoken to some of the biggest names in sport including Rio Ferdinand, Peter Crouch, WWE COO Triple H and WWE legend The Undertaker. May or may not do a decent impression of Jamie Carragher.

@DanMarland_