A cold sore wreaked havoc on yet another The Ultimate Fighter bout

This story contains spoilers about Season 32, episode 2, proceed with caution if you have not seen the episode yet.

In the second episode of season 32 of The Ultimate Fighter, the match-up between Omran Chaaban and Shamidkhan Magomedov was called off because Chaaban had a cold sore flare-up. The fighters were wrapped and about ready to go when they got the news that the fight was off.

"As part of our health and safety protocols all of our fighters have to go through a medical exam on fight day in order to get cleared to compete," UFC president Dana White said. "It's rare but last-minute concerns do come up sometimes."

This is the second time in two seasons that a cold sore has been an issue in a fight. On Season 31 of The Ultimate Fighter, Conor McGregor's athlete, Trevor Wells, was also not cleared to fight due to a cold sore.

"Now, that might not seem like a big deal, but it's a big deal. It's very contagious and it's a problem."

The fight was pushed back one week to allow it to heal and close properly before they began the fight. In its place, Robert Valentin took on Giannis Bachar. That fight ended up being a pretty insane match-up. We got to see a bunch of Valentin's personality, including his philosophy about sleeping outdoors. He ended up knocking out Bachar in just seconds for what Dana called one of the best finishes on The Ultimate Fighter.

What is a cold sore?

There is a lot of misinformation and stereotypes about cold sores. The first one is that people link cold sores to a sexually transmitted disease. Cold sores are different from genital warts. According to the Mayo Clinic, cold sores are fever blisters and are a common viral infection. Johns Hopkins says cold sores can be triggered by "exposure to hot sun, cold wind, a cold or other illness, a weak immune system, or even stress." This is probably why we see fighters getting them in Las Vegas which is known for extreme temperatures. That paired with the stress of fighting and the show, it's a hotbed for flare-ups.