World-famous MMA coach Firas Zahabi gave his take on the rumours surrounding Israel Adesanya and his gyno.
With many claiming it occurred due to steroid use and similar theories, Zahabi explained that a doctor indicated that receiving punches to the chest causing tissue damage could be the reason behind the swollen pectoral muscle.
That being said, Zahabi fails to buy the doctor’s theory, having coached hundreds of fighters over the years and has never come across anything like it.
Firas Zahabi on Israel Adesanya and his swollen peck
“Guys, I find it incredibly strange. Like, for me, I’ve only ever seen… Guys get punched in the chest all the time. I’ve never seen a guy walk in the ring, walk out with an inflamed breast.”
Having dug a little deeper, the Tristar head coach revealed Adesanya’s gyno has only been visible in the latter stages of his career and not in his younger days. Zahabi furthered his suspicions by indicating he’s only seen “one group that has this problem”.
“In my mind, there’s only one reason for this. There’s only one group that has this problem, there’s only one group. What other possibility could there be? People are putting pictures of him in the earlier years, he doesn’t have it, doesn’t have it, then all of a sudden, boom, he’s got it. And for me I have no explanation guys. I have no idea. It’s very suspicious. Very suspicious to me.”
Quotes via Sportskeeda
Watch Zahabi’s discuss the matter on the Tristar Youtube channel below:
Zahabi hints at Adesanya taking PEDs
Despite not following through with a claim, Zahabi was clearly suggesting that Adesanya has been taking performance-enhancing drugs. An accusation the middleweight champion has not taken kindly to in the past.
The irregularity of his pectoral muscle was first notable in his heated bout with Paulo Costa at UFC 253, which saw Adesanya stop the Brazilian native in the second round.
Unfortunately for Adesanya it seems as if it’s a discussion that’s going to be brought to the limelight before every fight.
Adesanya aims to make his sixth title defence this Saturday at UFC 281. The middleweight king will put his title on the line against a former nemesis in Alex Pereira.
What are your thoughts on Firas Zahabi’s comments?