UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya wants you to know there is nothing to worry about when it comes to his health. Ahead of his UFC 248 headliner against Yoel Romero, internet rumors began to suggest the champion had a staph infection after a video interview surfaced online.
Adesanya addressed the concerns during an appearance on The Ariel Helwani MMA Show this week and dismissed any issues.
“It’s just a little something, a little scrape of myself,” he told Ariel Helwani of ESPN.com. “That s—t happens, but whatever. I’ll rub it on his face when it’s time. 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— with me? I looked at it and went ‘no,’ and it went away.”
UFC 248 takes place on Saturday, March 7 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Along with Adesanya vs. Romero for the middleweight title in the main event, the pay-per-view features a women’s strawweight championship bout between Zhang Weili and former champ Joanna Jedrzejczyk.
UFC 248: Fight Time & Viewing Details
Event: UFC 248: Adesanya vs. Romero
Date: Saturday, March 7
Location: Las Vegas, Nevada
Venue: T-Mobile Arena
Main Card Card Time: 10:00 p.m. ET
Broadcast: Pay-per-view, ESPN, ESPN+
UFC 248 Fight Card
MAIN CARD (Pay-per-view, 10:00 p.m. ET)
- Champ Israel Adesanya vs. Yoel Romero – for middleweight title
- Champ Zhang Weili vs. Joanna Jedrzejczyk – for strawweight title
- Beneil Dariush vs. Drakkar Klose
- Li Jingliang vs. Neil Magny
- Max Griffin vs. Alex Oliveira
PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN/ESPN+, 8:00 p.m. ET)
- Sean O’Malley vs. Jose Quinonez
- Austin Hubbard vs. Mark Madsen
- Saparbek Safarov vs. Rodolfo Vieira
- Gerald Meerschaert vs. Deron Winn
PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN/ESPN+, 6:15 p.m. ET)
- Polyana Viana vs. Emily Whitmire
- Giga Chikadze vs. Jamall Emmers
- Danaa Batgerel vs. Guido Cannetti
