‘I Got It Wrong!’ Adesanya Apologizes To Controversial Olympic Boxer

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Women’s boxing has taken the 2024 Olympics by storm and unfortunately not in a good way.

25-year-old Algerian boxer, Imane Khelif, has sparked controversy throughout the Olympics as the center of attention thanks to claims that she’s a man or transgender competitor against women. Several athletes and notable personalities have voiced their thoughts on such a concept, including former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Middleweight champion, Israel Adesanya.

Adesanya, 35, took to Twitter on Aug. 1, 2024, after one of Khelif’s matches, saying, “Men should not be boxing women. lol he couldn’t even finish her. Anyway, People > politics.” While the tweet hasn’t been deleted, Adesanya has since admitted he was wrong to make such public accusations.

“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,” he continued. “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.”

Adesanya hasn’t fought since the end of his second-career UFC title reign atop the Middleweight division when he lost a unanimous decision to Sean Strickland at UFC 293 in September 2023 (watch highlights). “The Last Stylebender” will return and attempt to become a three-time champion when he challenges the current titleholder, Dricus Du Plessis, at UFC 305 next weekend (Sat., Aug. 17, 2024).