UFC star Israel Adesanya receives intense backlash over rape comment

Nigerian-born UFC star Israel Adesanya has received severe backlash over a 'rape' comment he made on Instagram.
In a now-deleted Instagram post aimed at Kevin Holland, Adesanya said; "bro, I will f***ing rape you."

The comment has landed the fighter in trouble with New Zealand's deputy prime minister Grant Robertson blasting him and asking the UFC to take actions against him.

"There is never a time to make flippant comments about rape. It's just not something anybody should do," Robertson said.

"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.

"But I would certainly be making clear to him, and to anybody actually, that we have to take rape seriously.

"It's not an issue that anyone should be making jokes or flippant comments about at all."

Rape Prevention Education has also criticised the Nigerian-New Zealander.

Adesanya however, does not seem bothered about the controversy. "Incoming clickbait NZ media in 3, 2, 1… This is what it's all about…CLOUT!!," he wrote on Twitter while reacting to the criticism.

This is not the first time the 31-year-old has landed himself in hot water for disrespectful comments.

In February 2020, he was forced to issue an apology after saying his then-upcoming opponent Yoel Romero would 'crumble like the twin towers' against him and vowed to be 'more careful with my words in the future'.