UFC 248: Israel Adesanya slams ‘disrespectful’ Yoel Romero for no-showing Auckland press conference
- Romero appears live via video feed at Spark Arena in New Zealand, which hosts Fight Night 168 on Sunday
- ‘I went all the way to America for one day, and he can’t even show up. The audacity,’ says middleweight champ
Israel Adesanya took a swipe at Yoel Romero for showing “disrespect” by not showing up in person for their UFC 248 press conference in Auckland on Saturday.
The “Soldier of God”, who challenges “Stylebender” for the UFC middleweight title on March 7, was present via Skype video and audio link.
And there were plenty of awkward delays, pauses and technical difficulties for the audience inside Spark Arena in New Zealand.
“To be honest, I’m only doing this for you guys, you guys charged me up for this,” Adesanya said on stage to the crowd. “F*** this [expletive] he didn’t even show up.
“I went all the way to America for one day. I showed up, I did my thing, and he can’t even show up. The disrespect, the audacity.”
Adesanya had shown up in Houston earlier this month for the announcement of his fight against Romero ahead during UFC 247 fight week, before flying straight back to Auckland to resume training at City Kick-boxing.
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“I’m pissed – why didn’t you fly? I wanna know,” Adesanya said, turning around to look at Romero’s face, which was projected on the giant screen behind him.
“It was last minute,” Romero replied, smiling, through a translator. “And if they have told me I had to go over there, I would have gone to your house.”
Adesanya continued to poke fun at Romero through the half-hour press conference, where media and fans asked the fighters questions.
“He’s a guy no one wants to fight, the ‘Oogey Boogeyman’,” Adesanya said. “Even Darren Till said ‘I’ll fight anyone except Yoel’. Why? I’ve seen him get rocked. I’ve seen him get stopped. I’ve seen him cry. I’ll make him cry.
“He’s human like anyone else. And everyone likes to make this myth about how it’s like kicking steel, you hit him he doesn’t fall. I’ll touch him enough times and eventually he’ll crumble like the Twin Towers. Too soon?”
Adesanya also said he would be happy to put his belt on the line against Jared Cannonier or Darren Till if the 43-year-old Romero fails to make weight.
“All I know is if he misses weight, I’m gonna take 80 per cent of his f****** cheque, that’s it,” Adesanya said. “That’s the only thing that pisses me off, is that it won’t be classified with a red ruby on my belt.
“He’s a guy who disrespected the sport. His last win was at [UFC] 221 [against Luke Rockhold]. He had probably another two hours to try and make the weight and he decided not to make the weight – ‘I’ll take the fine, take the deduction of a point, but I won’t dehydrate myself to the point where I won’t be able to fight’.
“That way he gets to go out there, knock out Rockhold and then still goes to fight for the belt and then not win and then try it again and not win. They have tactics they have in place to try to stay a step ahead.”
Adesanya also said he does not fear former Olympic wrestler Romero’s skills on the ground.
“He does not have any energy. His gas tank is already on ‘E’ [empty] right now, look at the way he’s sitting,” Adesanya said, turning around to face the screen again.
“If he comes heavy with the wrestling, he better pack a lunch because he’s gonna be in for a long day. Sprawl and brawl. When I sprawl, my nuts are gonna be on the back of his head. I’ll push his head down and smack him in the face with an uppercut.
“Tell him what I said – balls on the back of your head,” Adesanya added for the translator.
