Israel Adesanya shares theory on swollen pectoral after undergoing medical tests

Israel Adesanya was the picture of dominance in his UFC 253 title fight with Paulo Costa, defending the middleweight title with second-round TKO. Unfortunately, many fans were talking about something else in the aftermath of the matchup: the champ’s swollen pectoral muscle.

During the bout, some viewers noticed that Adesanya had some unusual swelling on the right side of his chest. As ever, fans were quick to speculate as to the cause of this abnormality, with some even accusing the champion of steroid use.

Post-fight, Adesanya revealed that he would be undergoing testing to get to the bottom of his swollen chest, but since then, he hasn’t given us much information on the issue. That changed on Wednesday, during an interview with ESPN, when he blamed his swollen pec on his frequent use of marijuana.

“My pituitary gland was checked, hormone levels are fine, so are estrogen and testosterone,” Adesanya said. “Yesterday we had an ultrasound and a mammogram, I had one for the first time. To be honest it might have been unhealthy living a little bit. Like smoking weed, that’s what the doctor from the UFC said. He said I need to stop but I said I’m not stopping, I’m just going to slow down on the smoking weed.”

With his victory over Paulo Costa, Adesanya is now a fantastic 20-0 as a mixed martial artist, and 2-0 since capturing the UFC middleweight belt from Robert Whittaker in late 2019. The middleweight champion is next expected to move up to light heavyweight to challenge the division’s new champion Jan Blachowicz for his title.

“He’s dangerous on the ground, he’s awkward on the feet, got that Legendary Polish Power,” Adesanya said of the matchup on Submission Radio this week. “But yeah, everyone’s got power, right? I mean, it’s something I proved in my last fight. I told y’all. You have to delivery that power somehow, you have to get it to the target. I’m not the easiest target to hit”

What do you think of this explanation from Israel Adesanya?