By Producers of Luxury vehicles and motorcycles, Bayerische Motoren Werke AG (BMW) has dropped Kiwi UFC superstar Israel Adesanya as an ambassador following his comments about rape.
The Nigerian-born professional martial artist was due to be unveiled as the new face of the BMW New Zealand on Monday, the same day as the launch of the new BMW M3 and M4 models.
However, the offensive comments Adesanya made earlier this week on social media -threatening to rape a fellow UFC fighter Kevin Holland – have landed him in troubled waters.
“Bro, I will f….n rape you,” Adesanya said as part of what he perceived as “fight talk.”
In a statement to the Herald, BMW said, “Due to the comments made by an athlete online, we have reviewed our pending association with said athlete and we have decided not to push forward with a specific ambassador for the brand at this time in New Zealand.”
Yesterday Friday, Adesanya apologised for the comment on Instagram, which has since been deleted.
“Last weekend fight talk escalated to a point in which I crossed the line. I understand the gravity of this word and how it can affect and hurt other people apart from my opponent, although that was NEVER my intention,”
“I am still growing under the spotlight, and I take this as a lesson to be more selective with words under pressure.” the boxer said.
Adesanya, born on July 22nd 1989 is a Nigerian-born New Zealand professional mixed martial artist, and former kickboxer and boxer.
As a mixed martial artist, he is currently signed to the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he is the UFC Middleweight Champion and has a record of 20-1.
In kickboxing, he is a former Glory Middleweight Championship title challenger. As of March 23, 2021 he is 5th in the UFC men’s pound-for-pound rankings.
