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Israel Adesanya Apologizes for Recent Comments- Says He Is Still ‘Growing Under the Spotlight’

Published 03/25/2021, 10:12 PM EDT

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Israel Adesanya recently attempted to add his name to a list of select few fighters to hold belts in two divisions simultaneously. ‘The Last Stylebender’ came up short against Jan Blachowicz, who outpointed him to a unanimous decision win. 

Since returning to his country, ‘Izzy’ has had to undergo a period of quarantine. He has used this time to get into a war of words with multiple fighters on social media. Kevin Holland being one of them. 

The emerging middleweight star, Holland, trashed Adesanya’s effort and performance against Jan in the build-up to his fight against Brunson. After his performance at UFC Vegas 22, ‘The Last Stylebender’ took the liberty to hit back at Holland for all the trash-talking he had done. Unfortunately, in the heat of the moment, a usually well-mannered fighter, Israel Adesanya crossed lines. 

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New Zealand’s minister for sports slams Israel Adesanya for his latest comments 

In a video that has been deleted since Adesanya said, “Bro, I will f***ing r**e you”. The comment did not sit well with New Zealand’s minister for sports, who condemned them stating, “I’m sure Israel understands that, I believe he has deleted the tweet in question. It will be up to the UFC as to what they do.”

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“But I would certainly be making clear to him, and to anybody actually, that we have to take r**e seriously. It’s not an issue that anyone should be making jokes or flippant comments about at all.”

Understanding the severity of the situation and of his statement, Israel Adesanya took to social media to apologize for his comments. He wrote, “Last weekend fight talk escalated to a point in which I crossed the line. I understand the gravity of this word and how it can affect and hurt other people apart from my opponent, although that was NEVER my intention. I am still to growing under the spotlight, and I take this as a lesson to be more selective with words under pressure.”

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This is the first time since joining the UFC that Israel Adesanya has crossed lines when it comes to trash-talking. Fans will be hoping that Adesanya learns from this incident and does not repeat it moving forward. 

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Kevin Binoy

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Kevin Binoy is an MMA author at EssentiallySports. He earned a Bachelor's degree from Fergusson College and has been covering sports professionally for over two years. Besides working with the MMA writing team, Kevin is a core member of the organization's web stories team and is responsible for delivering engaging MMA web stories.
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