The speculations of fighters contracting Staphylococcus infection are on the rise amongst the netizens. Islam Makhachev is under scrutiny as Conor McGregor attacked the Dagestani champ on X. ‘The Notorious’ pointed out a dark boil on Makhachev’s shin, claiming that the fighter was infected with Staph. Thereafter, the MMA world was left in disappointment with another fight at UFC 302 in probable jeopardy.

Not too long ago, ‘AFeldmanMMA’ released a photo of the lightweight champion’s leg with a dark blister on it. Almost immediately, McGregor shared a couple of tweets targeting Makhachev and his alleged infection. But later, Makhahev cleared the air by denying his infection and claiming that he was perfectly fine. 

But Makhachev wasn’t the only one under scrutiny. Paulo Costa also came under public investigation after one of his pictures was released on social media. In the photograph, Costa’s foot seemed to have a dark spot. Without wasting much time, the internet branded the spot as a symptom of Staph infection. Soon, ‘SpinningBackfist’ shared a tweet with pictures of the main event and co-main event fighters for UFC 302. The caption read, “WHAT IS ON COSTA’S FOOT??????”

Costa is set to fight Sean Strickland in the co-main event of UFC 302, while Makhachev will face Dustin Poirier for the main event. But if they were infected, the fighting world would have to give up on the idea of cheering the fighters at the event. As soon as the tweet crossed the threshold of the social media platform, the fight fans took over the comments section and began speculating what the mark on Costa’s foot actually was. But didn’t take much time for the fans to connect the dots between the spot on Makhachev’s leg and that on Costa’s foot. Here is what the fans had to say.

Fans react as Paulo Costa’s foot comes under scrutiny alongside Islam Makhachev

The fighting community was left in utter disappointment after hearing about Makhachev’s Staph infection. When a photograph of ‘The Eraser’ was linked to a Staph infection, fans were quick to form a conclusion. One of the fans seemed to think that ‘Borrachinha’ was together with Makhachev.

Meanwhile, another fan claimed that the spot on the Brazilian’s foot was indeed a symptom of Staph infection, even though the fan believed that the rumor about Makhachev’s infection was still a viable debate.

But some of the fans were quick to claim that Costa has the same case as that of Makhachev. They claimed that it was a Staph infection. 

One of the fans locked in Staph as the winner of UFC 302, quoting, “My lock of the night for #UFC302 is Staph infection.” With speculations of the infection circling the fighters, it was, in fact, an arguably logical option. Another fan wrote, “Surely not another one with Staph.” But the disappointment was palpable.

However, this didn’t stop the fans from putting forth some funny comments. The fans thought of a scenario where Paulo Costa’s kicks were quite lethal because of the infection. One of the fans commented, “those staph headkicks are gonna be lethal.”

But the fighter also found support in the comments section. Some fans knew that the mark was nothing but a burn. While grapplers are prone to contract a Staph infection, rolling on the mats also gave them burns. One fan wrote, “Y’all so quick to say staph its most likely a freaking mat burn or sum.” And the support continued with netizens dropping in their personal experiences.

Do you think Costa’s fight with Strickland is compromised? Let us know in the comments down below.