KSI breaks silence on controversial Wayne Bridge taunt and refuses to apologise to former Chelsea star
KSI has broken his silence after his controversial taunt to Wayne Bridge before the collapse of their boxing bout.
The YouTube sensation and former Premier League winner with Chelsea were set for a shock March 29 fight in Manchester.
But after announcing the pay-per-view clash in January – KSI brought up Bridge’s infamous feud with John Terry.
Terry allegedly had an affair with Bridge’s ex-partner Vanessa Perroncel in 2009 – something both have always denied.
And after KSI referenced the alleged affair – Bridge pulled out of the fight just days later.
KSI explained that he was playing the bad-guy role to help sell PPVs – but fell short of apologising to Bridge.
He told Ariel Helwani: “When I’m on stage, I’m on there essentially as a character to, I dunno, I was just trying to create pay-per-view, create drama, create action.
“I wanted him to hate me. I wanted him to instantly be like, ‘What? This guy. What is he doing? F*** this guy. I want to knock him out.’
“I didn’t expect him to actually pull out completely. I was literally just trying to rile him up because I’ve had all types of things said to me, all types of things done to me.
“I just know at the end of the day, I’ve met him before and I was pretty civil. There’s literally a YouTube video where I met him and we were chill.
“No anger, no hate towards each other it was all bless. But then obviously, when I’m fighting you I’m going to do everything I can to get under your skin and I’m going to literally make this event.
“I’m going to make this as big as possible and there are buttons I can press to get your riled up, I’m going to press them. That’s just it.”
Bridge has an 18-year-old son with ex-Vanessa and withdraw himself from the fight with KSI to avoid any further verbal warfare.
It came after KSI said: “Wayne Bridge, aren’t you the guy that let John Terry smash your ex? “That is what you are known for.”
He then sung a crude chant about former model Vanessa – who has always denied ever having an affair with Bridge’s former team-mate Terry.
KSI – returning for his eighth fight – revealed the fight was signed before Bridge pulled out.
He said: “Everything was set ready to go. I was ready to fight, he was ready to fight but I dunno, I guess he wasn’t ready for the s*** talk.”
KSI, 31, has not returned since suffering his first defeat in the boxing ring, losing a controversial decision to Tommy Fury, 25, in October 2023.
When I’m on stage, I’m on there essentially as a character… I was just trying to create pay-per-view, create drama, create action.
KSI
He was due for a comeback fight last August until a hand injury ruled him out.
And he will now fight 2-0 MMA star Dillon Danis, 31, who lost his boxing debut to Logan Paul, 29, last year.
They were set to fight in January 2023 but Danis pulled out.
And KSI claimed the jiu jitsu champion was a last resort after the likes of Jorge Masvidal, 40, were unable to accept the bout.
He said: “Even with this fight, I know I’m not even allowed to say it but f*** it. Dillon Danis wasn’t even my fourth choice.
“We went to Nate Diaz. He said no. We went to Donald Cerrone. He said no. We went to Tony Ferguson. He said no. These guys said no to me.
“Even Masvidal — we went to Masvidal to fight. He can’t do it because of the UFC. Guys, we’ve been trying to find people to fight.”