Is Paulo Costa Suffering From Staph After Islam Makhachev’s Infection Scare Ahead of UFC 302? UFC Pro Reveals the Truth

UFC 302 is just a few hours away, and the fans are all set to witness the event. One of the main attractions of the night is the co-main event between Paulo Costa and Sean Strickland. Both fighters will look to get back to winning ways after losing their previous battles.

Before their epic clash, rumors suggest that the Brazilian is also suffering (along with Islam Makhachev) from a staph infection. Costa does have a record of walking out of fights because of injuries. However, this time it’s just a rumor as cleared by Chase Hooper on his X account.

Paulo Costa is all fit and ready to go as revealed by the UFC lightweight prospect

So far in his UFC career, the Brazilian has pulled out of six booked fights previously. His last withdrawal was before the UFC 294 fight because of an undergoing elbow injury. However, this time around the 33-year-old will feature in his event much to the delight of the fans. And no, he doesn’t have any staph infection. The Brazilian can be seen hiding his foot in most of his pictures on social media, which caused many to believe there’s something wrong. However, the rumors were put to an end by Hooper on his X account. He wrote, “The amount of times people on Twitter claim that fighters have staph when they just have mat burn or an ingrown hair is ridiculous.”

Talking about accusations, Islam Makhachev also faced a few questions about him suffering from an infection. The 32-year-old is all geared up to take on Dustin Poirier next in his career. This will be the first time that the pair will lock horns against each other. At 35, Poirier has reinvented himself as a fighter and is fresh off an impressive victory at UFC 299. However, he will be up against one of the best in the division next Saturday. Makhachev, in his recent pre-fight press conference, cleared all the air regarding the rumors.

Islam Makhachev reveals he is all fit and ready to conquer UFC 302

The promotional pictures for the Prudential Center, Newark, New Jersey card showed a strange mark on Makhachev’s knees. This led the fans, including Conor McGregor, to believe that the Dagestani was facing some sort of infection and was not a hundred percent going into the fight. The Dubliner took to his X account and reacted to the picture, which has now been deleted. McGregor accused the Dagestani and his team of not following hygiene protocols. However, Makhachev seemed absolutely unfazed by the claims and declared that he was ready in his recent pre-fight press conference. 

He said, “Don’t worry guys, I have very well training camp. Nothing bother me and I will be ready 100 percent.” The 32-year-old is super confident, going into the fight. According to him, ‘The Diamond’ is no match for his wrestling skills. However, one cannot right off the striking skills of Poirier. His left hook is second to none and Makhachev has been previously knocked out leading to his only career loss. Both fighters were involved in an intense face-off before fight night. It will now be interesting to see who comes out on top on Saturday.

Can Dustin Poirier win his first UFC title at UFC 302? Let us know in the comments below.