Chael Sonnen isn’t buying Justin Gaethje’s story.
Gaethje is set to fight Paddy Pimblett for an interim lightweight title in the main event of UFC 324 on Jan. 24. Ahead of that contest, rumors are swirling that Gaethje has a staph infection based on screenshots from his own vlog that made the rounds on social media. “The Highlight” denied having an infection, responding to a fan by writing, “It’s an ingrown hair on my neck and brisket hanging out of my mouth, Nostradamus.”
Standard treatment for staph
requires the infected to undergo antibiotics, which would negatively affect Gaethje’s fitness during training camp should he require them. On his YouTube channel, Sonnen weighed in on if the UFC 324 headliner is in jeopardy and if Gaethje could be compromised heading into the fight.
“First off, will the fight go on?” Sonnen said. “Is that a question we’re asking? I’m rather confident that it will. A general staph infection like a wrestler or grappler would get, it takes three days to solve something like this. Secondly, would it affect the fight because you’re talking about a medication taken?—This is how I’m interpreting the question—No, I don’t think so. I also don’t know what it is that Justin has on his neck. I know it is not an ingrown hair.
“That’s my only concern is that he came out—the cover-up is always worse than the crime. So if he thinks he has an ingrown hair, let’s just say for example—I can tell you that’s not an ingrown hair—but if he genuinely thinks that, that’s not just a cover story, then it could be staph, which means it could spread. And when it’s this visible, it could be an issue. But I think we’re talking about nothing.”
Just based on the eye test, Sonnen can’t commit to guessing that Gaethje has staph, a common affliction for combat sports athletes typically caused by frequent contact with bacteria on training mats. However, he is certain that Gaethje is not simply dealing with an ingrown hair and he’s wondering why Gaethje would feel the need to cover any potential health issues up.
“Now, Justin Gaethje countered it to let you know that he doesn’t have staph, it was an in ingrown hair,” Sonnen said. “I’m not a doctor. I see staph all the time. I’ve got staph on my own arm right now, but looking at a picture and trying to tell what Justin Gaethje has, I don’t know what he has. He does not have an ingrown hair. That I do know.
“So he is lying about something, but is that interesting? Does that matter? Not to me.”
Even if Gaethje makes the walk to the octagon on Jan. 24, questions will linger as to whether he was treated for staph and, if so, how it might affect his performance. Pimblett is known for his powerful grappling pressure and over the course of a five-round fight, that could lead to Gaethje being worn down especially if he’s competing at less than 100 percent.
So far, Sonnen hasn’t seen any evidence that the public should lose confidence in Gaethje, even with the mystery surrounding his physical condition.
“So would it affect the odds of the Justin Gaethje fight? No,” Sonnen said. “This isn’t my opinion. This came out yesterday, DraftKings, the line has not budged. It didn’t budge anymore than when it got revealed that ‘Paddy the Baddy’ had lost a grappling match over the weekend. Could it turn into a thing? … I would be very confident in telling you ‘no’ if I was confident that Gaethje doesn’t truly think that that’s an ingrown hair.”
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FINAL THOUGHTS
My official medical diagnosis of Justin Gaethje’s weird neck thingy? GROSS!
EXIT POLL
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