Israel Adesanya is walking back comments he made about Olympic athlete Imane Khelif.
The 25-year-old Algerian boxer was the subject of widespread controversy earlier this month when rumors began to fly online claiming that she was actually a biological male competing in the women’s 66-kilogram division. Multiple athletes and celebrities shared their opinions on the subject matter, including Adesanya.
In a post on X, ‘The Last Stylebender’ wrote, “Men should not be boxing women. lol he couldn’t even finish her. Anyway, People > politics.”
Men should not be boxing women.
lol he couldn’t even finish her.
Anyway, People > politics. pic.twitter.com/i8KUyYlTrh— Israel Adesanya (@stylebender) August 1, 2024
Adesanya has not deleted the post but recently issued an apology to Khelif who is in fact a woman despite a plethora of false reports saying otherwise.
“From now on, I will leave women’s fights to women. I tried to speak up about it and apparently, I got it wrong, a lot of people got it wrong, there was misinformation,” Adesanya told MMA PACK. “I spoke up about it because I don’t like to get triggered, but when something triggers me, I’m a fighter and I saw that I’m like, ‘What?’ And I saw the news or the articles speaking on it, ‘Why they letting a trans person [in]?’ Then I find out later, okay, she wasn’t actually trans.
“So, to the lady, my bad. I got that wrong. But for me, still is that—all this grey area, even now, they let some pedo guy compete. Wait, so what? He served his time, cool, but you’re still going to let him compete in the Olympics and that goes against the guidelines of the Olympics’ rules … anyway, to the lady, the boxer, I am sorry. I didn’t understand what was going on.”
Israel Adesanya went on a podcast and apologized to Olympic boxer, Imane Khelif, for recent statements he made about her. pic.twitter.com/xrIYavRD0e
— InsideFighting (@InsideFighting_) August 7, 2024
Winning her first two fights at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, Khelif will compete in the division’s gold medal match on Friday evening at Roland Garros against China’s Yang Liu.
Israel Adesanya Guns for His Third Piece of Gold at UFC 305
As for Adesanya, the ‘Stylebender’ will return to the Octagon on Saturday, August 17 looking to do what no fighter has done in UFC history—claim the middleweight title for the third time. Standing in his way will be reigning 185-pound king Dricus Du Plessis who makes his first defense since a split decision win over Sean Strickland in January.
Adesanya’s last appearance came nearly a year ago when he suffered a five-round shellacking at the hands of Strickland at UFC 293.
Check out the official promo for Du Plessis vs. Adesanya below:
