UFC 294: Viktoriia Dudakova, Mike Breeden admit they hid staph infections from doctors
Paulo Costa had the most highly publicized case of staph infection among the fighters on, or slated to be on, the UFC 294 card Saturday at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. He wasn't the only one, though, even if he wasn't permitted to fight.
Viktoriia Dudakova and Mike Breeden admitted after they fought, and won, over Jinh Yu Frey and Anshul Jubli, that they fought with staph infections. Dudakova won a unanimous decision over Frey by scores of 29-28 on all cards. Breeden rallied in the third to brutally knock out Jubli after talking trash to him throughout the final round.
Both, though, fought with staph infections. Dudakova, who missed weight by .6 pounds, said she passed out during her weight cut.
Dudakova described a particularly gnarly situation at her post-fight news conference.
"I'm happy that this time around, I was able to fight stand-up," she said. "I have to tell you, this time around I wasn't able to wrestle, and let me explain why: For the past month, I had staph infection. My backside, my butt, is completely bloodied up right now. I have staph infection in places that it's not necessarily OK to announce to the whole world."
The ringside physicians were angry with her following the fight for not disclosing it in her pre-fight examination. She said she didn't because she knew she would be pulled.
"They checked me out after the fight and said, 'Why didn't you tell us before?'" she said. "[They said] 'Because we would have had to take you off the fight,' and I didn't want to be taken off the fight. And I didn't [take] antibiotics because we knew that if I did [take] antibiotics I wouldn't be able to catch my breath in the Octagon."
Victoria Dudakova details a gruesome staph infection that hampered her #UFC294 performance and contributed to her missing weight.
"My butt is completely bloodied up right now. I have staph infection in places that it's not necessarily okay to announce to the whole world." pic.twitter.com/i7UpDicHZF— MMA Fighting (@MMAFighting) October 21, 2023
Staph infection can be contagious and dangerous to other fighters and so her decision to not inform the UFC and the doctors saved her from being pulled but put others at risk.
She also admitted she passed out while soaking in the tub during her weight cut, which increased her risk.
"I passed out in the tub and they brought me back to life," she said.
Breeden also said he had staph. He, too, missed weight and appeared to have a cut over his left eye entering the fight. He was down two rounds but picked it up in the third round and wound up knocking Jubli out, going viral for woofing at him for much of the final round.
He later admitted he had a case of staph that he chose not to reveal. That's an issue the UFC is going to have to address because it's creating potentially unsafe conditions for fighters and others who enter the Octagon.
