Heavyweight champion Jon Jones seems to be training hard for his self-admitted last fight at UFC 309. The two-weight champion has been sharing play-by-play updates of his preparation leading up to the MSG event. The latest post features Jones wrapping up his prep, and thanking his teammates and fans. However, another video making the rounds has fans speculating the worst outcome for a fighter before a big fight. This speculation is just one of the many troubles mounting on UFC head honcho Dana White as November 16th gets closer.

In a video shared by ESPN MMA via Jones’ Instagram, the champion is seen training with a T-shirt and trousers on. Fans didn’t say much except point out Jones looking sloppy, and that Tom Aspinall would beat him in his current form. What caught the eyes of fans, however, was a comment left by infamous BJJ practitioner Dillon Danis. Commenting on Jones’ appearance, and possibly his attire, Danis said – “[He’s definitely] covering staph or something unless he [is] keeping the cr**khead look going”.

While adding fuel to rumors currently troubling Dana White, suggesting that Jon Jones may pull out – one can assume that this is Danis just being a troll. The black belt under Marcelo Garcia is infamous for starting online beefs with fighters, and not actually fighting them in the cage.

One can’t blame fans for assuming the worst because, around this time last year, Jon Jones pulled out of his scheduled bout with Stipe Miocic at UFC 295 due to a torn pectoral tendon. The last time ‘Bones’ pulled out, he sat out for eight months. If the same happens again, less than 10 days out from D-Day, we might not get to see the heavyweight titans clash on November 16th. However, given Jon Jones’ series of posts, it seems like the heavyweight champion is well on his way to a title defense.

With all the fights falling out of UFC 309 like Azamat Murzakanov vs. Nikita Krylov, and David Onama vs. Lucas Almeida, and the rumors of the UFC 309 co-main event falling out – Dana White doesn’t need one of his top stars hiding a staph infection less than two weeks out from an MSG card.

Dana White may not be too happy about Jon Jones hiding a possible staph infection

In the past, many UFC fighters battled staph infection and still made it to fights. In some cases, the infection and medications had an effect on an athlete’s performance, while in others it didn’t affect a fighter’s ability so much. For example, when Kevin Lee pulled up to his fight against Tony Ferguson at UFC 216, he ended up losing the fight via submission, after initially winning but eventually gassing out due to his condition. What’s even more is that Lee hid his condition in a pre-fight medical questionnaire. Joe Rogan and Daniel Cormier, who were commentating, pointed out Lee’s condition which was visible for all the world to see on fight day, and predicted him eventually losing his breath because of it.

An example of a fighter who performed incredibly well, despite battling staph is Islam Makhachev. Before his UFC 302, fans speculated the lightweight champion had staph in a pre-fight picture before the event. Having initially denied it, Makhachev later confirmed he contracted staph the week he landed in Newark, New Jersey. However, on fight day, Makhachev showed up in solid form against Dustin Poirier to claim a fifth-round brabo-choke submission over the Louisiana native.

Incidentally, in the UFC 294 card, again featuring Makhachev in the main event, strawweight fighter Victoria Dudakova’s staph infection eventually led her to miss weight. Visibly annoyed at the UFC 294 post-fight press conference, White called out fighters who hide their injuries or medical conditions before fights – “Why’re you going to lie and do that, then sit up here and say, ‘I had a staph infection’? It’s a very f—ing weird thing to do”. If Jon Jones is truly battling a staph infection, that’s an inconvenience Dana White doesn’t really want at this point.

Do you think Jon Jones hiding a possible staph infection as suggested by Dillon Danis? If so, will it affect his ability to fight at UFC 309? Let us know in the comments below.