Justin Gaethje is set to face Paddy Pimblett at UFC 324 in January for the interim lightweight championship. A win over the Liverpudlian on the first-ever Paramount+ CBS card would make ‘The Highlight’ a two-time interim 155 lbs champion, a feat he previously achieved against Tony Ferguson at UFC 249. However, Gaethje, dealing with a possible staph infection, has now raised serious concerns among fans. 

Recently, a photo from Gaethje’s training session went viral on X, with red marks on his neck catching everyone’s attention. When fans questioned whether it was a staph infection, the lightweight veteran brushed it off as an ingrown hair. Still, former UFC middleweight title challenger Chael Sonnen is not buying that explanation. 

Chael questions Justin Gaethje’s staph infection claim amid worrying training concerns 

“Somewhere, the media picked up on this. Now, Justin Gaethje countered it to let you know that he doesn’t have staph, it was an ingrown hair. 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,” ‘The American Gangster’ said on his YouTube channel.

Sonnen’s comments suggest that if Justin Gaethje is dealing with a spreadable infection, it could hurt his chances against Pimblett in the UFC 324 main event.

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While staph infections have become fairly common in MMA, they still carry the potential to impact performance. Jiri Prochazka previously claimed he suffered from staph before fighting Alex Pereira at UFC 295, where he later lost by knockout.

With Sonnen and Gaethje offering different explanations, only time and medical clarity will reveal the truth. Adding to the concern, ‘The Highlight’s long-time coach Trevor Wittman recently revealed that Gaethje’s body needed a full week of recovery after showing signs of fatigue during training.

“I started to see his body… not really hit a wall. But I could just see certain things on the recovery. So it was time to pull back. We took the last two days off… we still did the light motion, shadow boxing, stuff like that. So we got four days completely off to let his body recover, and this week is the down week. The down week isn’t 100% off. I would say it’s about 70%,” Trevor Whitman said in Gaethje’s YouTube video.

With the fight drawing closer, the 37-year-old lightweight needing extra recovery could point toward overtraining. However, it could also hint at an underlying physical issue. It won’t be an overstatement to call Whittman’s update on Gaethje’s body worrying. 

With UFC 324 just weeks away, not being able to complete a scheduled training due to feeling burnt out is a concerning sign, especially when considering that Pimblett is 31 and arguably in his physical prime.

Alexander Volkanovski is the only fighter in history to be aged above 35 and win a title at lightweight or below.

Tony Ferguson went from winning 12 fights in a row to losing his last eight. Jose Aldo, once undefeated for almost a decade, lost his title once and never touched it again. Deiveson Figueiredo went from being one of the most feared bantamweights ever to losing against a much younger Brandon Moreno and then being forced to move up a division.

This is not to say that Gaethje isn’t still elite. While he has the potential to beat most top contenders like Dustin Poirier did, claiming the title is a step where even the smallest physical discrepancies can make a huge difference.

Now, even with these concerns, a fellow competitor seems confident in ‘The Highlight,’ backing him not only to beat Paddy Pimblett but also to challenge Ilia Topuria next. 

Michael Chandler backs ‘The Highlight’ to beat Topuria and Pimblett

Ahead of the first Paramount+ CBS card, many believe Paddy Pimblett has the edge over Justin Gaethje at UFC 324 because of his grappling. Even then, the Arizona native has plenty of believers.

Picking Gaethje to beat the Liverpudlian, Michael Chandler believes the former interim lightweight champion could go on to defeat undisputed champ Ilia Topuria and claim the belt.

“But Gaethje is a whole different animal. So, if I had to bet, which I can’t, but if I had to lean one direction, I’d go Justin Gaethje. Interim champion, and then he beats Ilia Topuria later on this year. Maybe. Tough one, very tough one. I’m a Gaethje guy. But, I’ve also been on record saying I think Ilia Topuria is the most skilled fighter in the UFC that we have on the planet right now,” ‘Iron’ told ESPN MMA.

Justin Gaethje recently admitted that Ilia Topuria scares him. Not in a literal sense, but in terms of how one small mistake could leave him flat on the canvas, just like Topuria’s last three opponents. Chandler’s confidence may come from experience, though.

He has shared the Octagon with ‘The Highlight’ before at UFC 268 and knows firsthand about Gaethje’s power and accuracy, traits that could be enough to score an upset over both the Liverpudlian and the Georgian Spaniard.

That said, for this dream scenario to become reality, Justin Gaethje first needs to win the interim belt on January 24 and then wait for Topuria to return to the Octagon. But the bigger question still looms. Is Gaethje truly healthy enough to clear that hurdle?