Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC
Israel Adesanya isn’t too worried about his staph infection affecting him in his UFC 248 title fight against Yoel Romero.
Over the weekend, a video interview of UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya drew some speculations. In the said clip, “The Last Stylebender” was seen with a small bump on his left arm, drawing concerns of a possible staph infection.
Adesanya himself appeared on the Ariel Helwani MMA Show on Monday to assure everyone that there is nothing to be worried about.
“It’s just a little something, a little scrape of myself,” Adesanya said (transcript via MMA Fighting). “That sh-t happens, but whatever. I’ll rub it on his face when it’s time.”
Staph infections and the antibiotics used to treat it are known to have an effect on a fighter’s performance, especially when the condition strikes too close to fight night. Adesanya, however, isn’t at all perturbed by it.
“F—k no!” Adesanya said in response when asked if it might put the fight in jeopardy. “I’m here, right? I’m trying to get paid. I’m here. I’ve had malaria damn near eight times. I don’t know what else I’ve had. Like you think staph’s going to f—k with me?
“I didn’t even take antibiotics,” he continued. “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,” Adesanya added. “I’m gonna fight and I’m gonna whoop his ass this weekend.”
UFC 248 happens this Saturday, March 7, at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.