MMA social media got itself in quite a flurry over suspicions that Conor McGregor may be battling a staph infection ahead of his rematch with Dustin Poirier. In a photo posted by the former champion, he appeared to have a lesion on his left elbow that some commentators took to be a staph infection.
McGregor denied the accusation, taking to Twitter to claim that he instead has “vicious brain damaging elbows”.
McGregor denies staph infection with terrifying assertion
Staph infections are not infrequent in MMA and BJJ gyms. These infections are caused by the naturally occurring staphylococcus bacteria living on an individual’s skin. If the bacteria gets into an abrasion or cut sustained in training, the resulting infection can cause boils and prevent the wound from healing. Highly contagious staph infections tear through combat sports gyms and teams.
Should the bacteria invade deeper into the body than a minor skin abrasion, the resulting infection can cause toxic shock, damage one’s internal organs and joints, or in serious cases cause death.
Obviously, a serious staph infection only days out from McGregor’s trilogy fight would be disastrous for the Irishman as well as his teammates and the UFC.
The upcoming fight between McGregor and Poirier will likely be one of the biggest events on 2021’s UFC calendar. Their most recent bout, which took place at UFC 257 earlier this year, ended in a second-round knockout victory for Dustin Poirier. This also marked the first time McGregor lost via knockout in his MMA career.
The two fought previously way back during McGregor’s meteoric rise to the top of the UFC, when in 2014 McGregor put Poirier away with a flurry of punches to win via TKO.
Whoever wins this fight will likely go on to challenge Charles Oliveira in his first Lightweight title defence. Poirier previously held the interim Lightweight title, only to lose it in resounding fashion to Khabib Nurmagomedov. McGregor once held the undisputed title.
The trilogy fight will be a career-defining moment for both men, whichever way it goes. If McGregor loses, he may be looking seriously at retirement from MMA. If Dustin loses, he may never seriously challenge for the Lightweight title again. If Conor wins, it may herald a resurgence for the man once ranked the world’s number one pound for pound fighter. If Dustin takes the trilogy, it will mark the culmination of a years-long rebuilding following his original loss to McGregor all those years ago.
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