Dustin Poirier's foot has swollen to almost twice its normal size as the UFC star battles an infection in hospital.
Poirier returned to the octagon to defeat Michael Chandler in November to return to title contention after losing to Charles Oliveira six months prior. It is expected 'The Diamond' will return to the cage in 2023 with an eye on taking another step towards challenging newly crowned champion Islam Makhachev.
But Poirier has been taken to hospital to receive treatment on a staph infection in his foot, which was not yet responding to antibiotics. He then tweeted yesterday: "Going on day two in the hospital. S*** is getting serious." In a fresh update, his wife Jolie has posted a video of his foot from the hospital.
It can be seen looking very swollen and red from the infection, with annotations on it pen to signal to doctors the size of the swelling. The video was posted with the caption: "Not much progress being made actually looking worse." A staph infection is a regular occurance for MMA fighters which is caused by close contact to human skin.
In some cases, a staph infection can be life threatening hence why urgent hospital treatment was required for Poirier to prevent any serious complications. Previous fighters have been ruled out for extended periods due to the infection including Robert Whittaker who faced a year on the sidelines after having a staph infection in his stomach.
Poirier received a flurry of supportive messages on his social media, except from bitter rival Conor McGregor whom he beat in a trilogy fight last year. The pair raised speculation of a potential fourth fight despite Poirier being confined to a hospital bed, with the Irishman first tweeting: "Heal up soon scruffy knickers."
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The 155lb contender then hit back, writing: "You ready to get slapped around again?" Before McGregor heated up the feud again with a death threat, concluding: "Ye I’m in Amsterdam jacked like Van Damme. You weren’t just hurt pal. You were scared hurt don’t forget it. I’m coming back to put you in a box. Full of it. I’m sending you off this earth. Permanent. Stay waiting for the road house as well pal you and the missus will love it."
Providing Poirier is able to return in 2023, he could face a number of potential new options after ousting Chandler, including fellow contender Beneil Dariush. He has yet to officially declare a name that could be next on his radar but is eyeing any big names who are available. “Big fights. Fun fights,” Poirier said. "There’s a bunch of fights that would be crazy matchups, I just don’t know a name right now.
“I want those, because those are going to be the fun fights, the crazy fights, potential ‘Fight of the Year’ type of fights. Those are also the fights that give me those butterflies in the stomach everyday."
