Ultimate Fighting Championship interim middleweight champ Israel Adesanya took to Twitter and criticized former title challenger Yoel Romero for his inability to win a belt as well as his history of weight-cutting issues.
…and tha fuck what. Y’ll act like Romero is the champ, never makes weight, never won a UFC belt.
Them: “yOu foUGht aN OLd sIlVa!!”
Me: Anderson is 44, Yoel is 42…https://t.co/dgKVd4OYrA— Israel Adesanya (@stylebender) May 2, 2019
“…and tha f— what. Y’ll act like Romero is the champ, never makes weight, never won a UFC belt.
Them: ‘yOu foUGht aN OLd sIlVa!!’
Me: Anderson is 44, Yoel is 42…”
Romero was eventually made aware of the criticism and fired back with his patented “I see you soon boi” comment.
I see you soon boi #iluhju #peopleschamp https://t.co/kbcXf1IVmQ
— Peoples Champ (@YoelRomeroMMA) May 3, 2019
Adesanya responded, making fun of Romero’s broken English and comparing the Cuban’s comments to the beloved and simple-minded character Groot from the “Guardians of the Galaxy” films.
…all this nigga can say is “I am Groot!” #iluhjutoo https://t.co/sGBftgtfsI
— Israel Adesanya (@stylebender) May 5, 2019
“…all this ni— can say is ‘I am Groot!’ #iluhjutoo”
Romero fired back using a clip from the movie “Captain Phillips” to mock Adesanya’s confidence and call into question the validity of his achievements in the division, noting that the man Adesanya beat to win his interim title, Kelvin Gastelum, has competed for much of his career in the welterweight division.
.@stylebender first time beating a welterweight and now…..? #iseeyousoonboi #iluhju pic.twitter.com/oC7fIsKlXu
— Peoples Champ (@YoelRomeroMMA) May 6, 2019
“@stylebender first time beating a welterweight and now…..?”
Adesanya took on Gastelum for the interim middleweight title last month in the co-main event of UFC 236 in one of the best title fights in UFC history. Adesanya was awarded the win via unanimous decision after a decisive fifth round in which he had Gastelum badly hurt.
Romero has not fought in nearly a year since losing by split decision to middleweight champion Robert Whittaker at UFC 225 last June. The 42-year-old Cuban was scheduled to meet Ronaldo Souza on April 27 at UFC on ESPN 3 but was forced to withdraw after suffering from pneumonia.