Conor McGregor was right. Islam Makhachev did have a staph infection, which forced him to stop training just weeks before the UFC 302 fight against Dustin Poirier.
Mind you, staph infections are no joke for professional fighters as many have pulled out of fights due to it. If the infection spreads, it could be fatal. But Makhachev isn’t just built of the same stuff as everyone else. He showed up to the event like a champ, performed like a champ, in and out of the octagon, and never used his infection as an excuse.
The fight proved to be his toughest test in the octagon so far and he passed with flying colors. It was only during a post-fight interview with Yuka MMA following his fight, he talked about the infection and how much it bothered him.
“I had a staph infection, I suffered from it for a little while about a week after we arrived in America”.
Islam Makhachev confirms he had a staph infection leading up to the fight and had to rest & not train for a week while in the US pic.twitter.com/fiwSrtduGJ
“I had a staph infection, I suffered from it for a little while about a week after we arrived in America…It threw me off track for a week. I didn’t train, I rested so it wouldn’t spread further.”— ❂ (@Sa_Gwang) June 2, 2024
Although the infection did bother him, he had never intended to pull out of the fight. And what a fight it was. Both Poirier and Makhachev gave it their all in one of the most memorable title fights of their collective careers.
But all the bad blood, if there ever was, buried deep inside, it was only used to paint the octagon red. Once the fight was over, the two embraced like brothers in arms who had just been through 5 rounds of hell together.
Dustin Poirier and Islam Makhachev embrace amidst backstage chat at UFC 302
From being on antibiotics for his staph infection to not training for a week, Islam was already troubled going into the fight. And then Poirier didn’t just stop most of his takedowns but also opened his head up with a vicious elbow.
. However, when Islam met ‘The Diamond’ backstage at UFC 302 he had nothing but praise for him,
“Everything before this fight is for making this fight interesting, all respect…You are one of the best in the world, I feel bad because you have retired.”
Two warriors!
Islam Makhachev and Dustin Poirier with so much respect backstage after #UFC302! pic.twitter.com/HAKKRgIXJY
— UFC Europe (@UFCEurope) June 2, 2024
Even before the fight, Islam Makhachev had spoken out about how he didn’t think Dustin Poirier should retire. Makhachev has repeatedly said that Poirier was one of the very best in the world, one of the legends of our sport and if he wanted to, he could still beat the top guys in the division.
Such camaraderie is a welcome sight in a sport that is often marred by personal and bigoted attacks on each other in the vain name of freedom of expression. For the longest time, MMA wasn’t considered a sport; it was too barbarian, too uncivilized for the taste of the masses.
But now that it is a sport and a loved one at that, it is incumbent for the fighters to behave like professional athletes and not hooligans at a pub.
