Belal Muhammad Shares Video That Proves Brendan Allen Fought With Staph Infection at UFC Vegas 122

Brendan Allen fought more than just a hungry, young contender in Christian Leroy Duncan at UFC Vegas 122. According to his friend and teammate Belal Muhammad, Allen suffered a gnarly staph infection even as he fought yesterday.

On social media, the former welterweight champion shared a video of Brendan Allen staggering into a hospital’s emergency check-in. In subsequent pictures, Muhammad showed images of Allen’s inflamed skin, which looked like a serious case of staph infection.

While reflecting further, Belal Muhammad revealed that the UFC middleweight had been dealing with the issue since Tuesday of fight week and was taking antibiotics to treat the issue.

“What people don’t know is Brendan was dealing with a staph infection since Tuesday of fight week,” Muhammad wrote. “Had to get on antibiotics, still has 5 days left on them, and despite all that adversity, went out there and got the finish. Never complained, never made excuses, just found a way to win. That’s the heart of a champion. Proud of my brother.”

Allen scoring a late 5th round submission victory over Christian Leroy Duncan at UFC Vegas 122 was impressive. But the middleweight pulling that finish off while battling a staph infection certainly adds extra shine to his latest victory.

MMA: UFC Fight Night – Vancouver: De Ridder vs Allen Oct 18, 2025 Vancouver, BC, CANADA Brendan Allen blue gloves reacts after the fight against Reinier De Ridder red gloves during UFC Fight Night at Rogers Arena. Vancouver Rogers Arena BC CANADA, EDITORIAL USE ONLY PUBLICATIONxINxGERxSUIxAUTxONLY Copyright: xSimonxFearnx 20251018_szo_qf2_0303

For those who may not know, a staph infection is caused by Staphylococcus bacteria that often remains harmless because it stays on human skin. But when it enters a cut, which fighters frequently pick up in training, it can cause serious infections. 

Fighters need to take a hefty amount of medicine to fight it, which can affect their overall recovery during fight week, which is already grueling. Unfortunately, Allen had to go through the same ordeal as well. 

However, he is not going through this issue for the first time. 

Before his clash against Anthony Hernandez at UFC Seattle in 2025, Allen suffered a staph infection that nearly put his fight in doubt. Fortunately, he managed to recover from the infection in time and fought Hernandez, but lost via unanimous decision.

Besides ‘All In,’ there are other fighters who have endured a case of staph infection. Jiri Prochazka disclosed that he went through the same ordeal before both Alex Pereira fights, UFC 295 and UFC 303–both fights he lost via knockout.

A serious case, however, happened with Ben Askren when his staph infection developed into pneumonia that almost took his life.

It is nothing but remarkable that Brendan Allen managed to overcome that and propel himself to a victory yesterday. But some controversy also happened in his fight, and the referee provided some clarification.  

Marc Goddard clarifies eye-poke controversy at Brendan Allen vs. Christian Leroy Duncan fight 

Yesterday, Marc Goddard received a ton of appreciation from fans after swiftly punishing Christian Leroy Duncan’s second-round eye poke to Brendan Allen. The long-time official effectively deducted a point from ‘CLD’ that trailed him in the judges’ scorecards. In the end, the point deduction did not matter because Allen choked Duncan out at 2:46 of the 5th round.

Despite the outcome of the fight, Marc Goddard felt it was necessary to address why he took the point from Christian Leroy Duncan in the UFC Vegas 122 main event.

“I’d like to offer some clarity on this as I believe it’s a teachable moment & gives insight into what we are doing as officials to overcome certain obstacles,” Goddard wrote on X. “As referees we go over the rules one to one with fighters in the back before the fight begins, here we specifically cover potential eyes pokes.

“If you watch you will hear me warn CLD in round one for outstretched fingers toward the face. I then again, before the start of the next round, ask him to be careful & mindful of the hands. It is then when the eye poke occurs do I take definitive action.”

Goddard indeed warned ‘CLD’ multiple times during the clash following complaints from Brendan Allen. It is not clear as of now whether Duncan actually paid attention to the referee’s call or not. But his ultimately ignoring the ref’s instruction resulted in a lost point. Still, Goddard praised the British middleweight as a fine athlete.

“CLD is a credit to the sport of MMA & an exceptional athlete,” Goddard added. “There’s so much more, mechanically to addressing eye pokes in MMA both preventatively (before the action) and correctively (after the action) it is very hard to expect an athlete to change 20 years of training & habit with a few minutes of conversation pre-fight.

“Just know that both myself and my colleagues know it is a firm priority to address & fix this. All respect to the athletes & our sport. Thank you.”

Following the results of the UFC Vegas 122 main event, Brendan Allen will be looking forward to the next challenge that could propel him toward a title shot. He called out Dricus Du Plessis for a grudge match, which looks like a feasible matchup.

It remains to be seen what decision the UFC takes regarding Allen’s future, but hopefully he will fight without any compromise next time.

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