What Caused Israel Adesanya to Develop Gynecomastia and Does He Still Have It?

Israel Adesanya is one of the biggest stars in mixed martial arts right now. He is the current UFC middleweight champion and is undefeated in the division. Adesanya is a former Glory middleweight title challenger and signed with the UFC in late 2017.

Ever since making his debut, ‘The Last Stylebender’ has only raised his stock. In only his seventh fight in the UFC, Adesanya fought for the middleweight title. He put on a clinical performance against the then champion, Robert Whittaker, and knocked him out in the second round. Since then, he has defended his title three times and won convincingly. His only loss in MMA came at the hands of Jan Blachowicz.

At UFC 259, he moved up a division and was challenged for the UFC light heavyweight title. However, he came up short and lost the fight via a unanimous decision. But he put that loss behind him quickly and easily dismissed the challenge of Marvin Vettori at UFC 263. The Nigerian-born New Zealand fighter is currently preparing to take on the former champion Robert Whittaker at UFC 271.

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One of his performances that will be remembered for a very long time to come is the one against Paulo Costa. Costa was undefeated going into the fight against Adesanya at UFC 253 and was considered the toughest challenge of his career. However, he made a light work of him and finished him in the second round.

But the thing that was most talked about from that fight was the champion’s swollen right pectoral muscle. He had gynecomastia, which is a medical term for swelling in male breast tissue. He later in an interview, revealed the reason for the swelling.

How did Israel Adesanya get Gynecomastia?

A number of factors can cause gynecomastia. Drugs and alcohol, various medications, and even herbal products are just some of them. One of the causes of the swollen pecs is the use of PEDs. And Adesanya naysayers were quick to accuse the fighter of the use of it.

However, in an interview with Ariel Helwani, he clarified the cause of it. He said, “My pituitary gland was checked, hormone levels are fine, estrogen and testosterone. Yesterday we had an ultrasound and a mammogram. I had one for the first time. To be honest it might have just 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’m not stopping, I’m just going to slow down on the smoking weed.”

He also said that the kind of performance that he put in against Costa, it’s no wonder that people thought he had taken something. Even though since then his pecs haven’t been swollen yet, people said that he had used them recently. It was based on a recent photo of him, along with Dan Hooker.

Does Adesanya still have gynecomastia?

Since the last case, the UFC middleweight champion hasn’t talked about the issue. However, one of his latest photos of his caused people to raise the issue again.

‘The Hangman‘ posted a photo with his teammate, Adesanya. In the photo, ‘The Last Stylebender‘ is shirtless and his right pectoral muscle is clearly swollen.

Once the picture was posted, the fans took notice of the pectoral and speculated he still had gynecomastia. The champion has not made a statement on it, so it is still not clear whether that is the case. 

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Whatever the case, Adesanya would want to put his best foot forward against Whittaker at UFC 271.