Israel Adesanya has dismissed any concern about his health ahead of his first official middleweight title-defence this weekend.
The newly-crowned middleweight champ will headline the UFC 248 fight card on Saturday as he takes on the scariest fighter in his division in Yoel Romero.
Despite coming off strings of losses, the Cuban powerhouse gets the crack at a UFC gold and Adesanya welcomes the opportunity to ‘be the first man to stop him properly.’
The Kiwi-Nigerian has vowed to knockout Romero in the upcoming title fight but MMA fans were quick to speculate that he may not be on his full shape on Saturday.
In a recent appearance on Combat TV, fans saw a rash/cut on Adesanya’s left arm, which sparked speculations he is dealing with staph infection.
Staph Attack? Video of Israel Adesanya has fans worried about #UFC248 champion’s health https://t.co/ulTDBo0mhC pic.twitter.com/vRhd3b8XHQ
— MMA mania (@mmamania) March 1, 2020
No Concern
The middleweight champion finally broke his silence about the issue, saying the UFC 248 main event title fight is not in jeopardy.
Speaking to ESPN’s Ariel Helwani, Adesanya said he is 100% healthy going to the Romero clash.
“It’s just a little something, a little scrape of myself. That sh*t happens, but whatever. I’ll rub it on his face when it’s time,” he told Helwani (transcript from MMA Fighting)
“I didn’t even take antibiotics, I just said ‘No.’ I looked at it and went ‘No,’ and it went away. I did it with this one as well when I went jet skiing.”
“I had one on my thumb knuckle when i was jet skiing, the throttle, after a while it starts to bruise from having so much fun. That one got a little culture developing inside it but then I just said ‘No’ and it went away.”
“No concerns. I’m gonna fight and I’m gonna whoop his ass this weekend.”
Israel Adesanya Dismisses Concerns About Staph Infection Prior To UFC 248 https://t.co/5NLQD8blOz
— MMA Insight (@mmainsightcom) March 3, 2020
Seeking Out Challenges
Amid the criticisms on the match-up, Adesanya explained his decision to take on Romero for his first title-retention bid.
For this fight, ‘The Last Stylebender’ is out to prove that the Cuban fighter is just human, who sweats and gasses out.
“I’m a guy who seeks out the challenges,” he told Kevin Iole of Yahoo Sports.
“Yoel is coming off a three-fight losing streak; that’s not good for business. The UFC, they didn’t want to put it on.”
“But Dana is very impressionable, and I can convince him when I make sense. If it makes dollars, it makes sense, so I talked to him and said I want to fight him for so-and-so reasons.”
“Pretty much, he’s a guy no one wants to fight, so that makes me want to fight him even more.”
“I want to know, ‘Why is everyone so scared of this human?’ He is human. At the end of the day, he’s just another guy who bleeds if you cut him. He sweats. He gasses out. I don’t gas out.”
Fun fact:
Israel Adesanya vs Yoel Romero will make history as the first ever UFC title fight featuring two African Americans. I love this sport. pic.twitter.com/CczrdX0UbA
— UFC Super Fan🇮🇪 (@McGregorRousey) March 4, 2020
(Featured Image Source: YouTube/ ESPN and Combat TV)