“Lie and Hide Injuries” – Dana White Unleashed on Fighters Hiding Staph Infections While Giving a Warning to Paulo Costa Months Before UFC 302

Paulo Costa, who’s fighting at UFC 302, found himself in a medical emergency before UFC 294, getting a staph infection, and pulled out of the fight against Khamzat Chimaev. A few more such cases popped up on the radar of Dana White, which prompted the UFC CEO to share some cautionary words with all the fighters on the roster.

Recently, there have been murmurings about a potential staph infection affecting Islam Makhachev. Conor McGregor seemed sure about it. There were no official words about the same but Dana White had already shared his thoughts on how he feels about such situations.

Dana White doesn’t like being lied to about medical issues

We have already mentioned that after Paulo Costa’s withdrawal from UFC 294, a couple of fighters revealed after their fights that they were suffering from staph infections. The fighters in question were Mike Breeden and Victoria Dudakova. They hid their ailments and competed in their matchups, which was not something Dana White was a fan of.

Implying that fighters could face serious consequences, Dana White stated during the UFC 294 post-fight presser that it wasn’t the medical team’s fault that they couldn’t figure out the infections. “No [we’re not going to change medicals]. I mean, if you look at how many fights … we basically do fights every single Saturday. Here’s one of the things: if you’re going to lie and hide injuries like that, lie all the way home,” the UFC CEO stated.

Dana White also expressed his disgust at fighters competing in fights and then coming out as suffering from medical conditions. He believes that this falls under the category of strange behavior – “Why are you going to lie and do that and then sit up here and say, ‘I had a staph infection?’ It’s just a very f***ing weird thing to do, to be honest with you. Very weird.”

Meanwhile, the controversy surrounding Islam Makhachev’s staph infection rumors has been debunked recently. It was none other than the champion himself who has cleared out these discussions.

Islam Makhachev dismisses staph infection rumors

After a UFC 302 media day picture surfaced on social media, many people, including Conor McGregor, noticed a swelling-type bruise on Islam Makhachev’s leg, prompting fans to wonder if he was infected. ‘The Notorious’ even shared some hygiene tips for Makhachev’s team, claiming that the whole camp was infested. However, that doesn’t seem to be true, as the lightweight champion opened up about it during the UFC 302 pre-fight pressers.

“Don’t worry, guys. I have [trained] very well [in the] training camp. Nothing bothers me and I will be ready, 100 percent on Saturday night,” said Islam Makhachev as he assured his fans. Well, it remains to be seen if that is the case this weekend at Lafayette Street.

It’s not just Makhachev who gave fans a staph infection scare. The same happened to the co-main event star Paulo Costa when fans spotted what looked like a wound on his foot in one of the pictures. The same picture on UFC’s official social media channels seemed to have the portion outside the frame (cropped out?). This move has raised a few eyebrows but the Brazilian looked to be in good health and even better spirits at the presser.

What are your thoughts on Dana White’s unfiltered comments about hiding staph infections? Let us know in the comments below.