Viktoriia Dudakova is revealing all sorts of TMI details after winning her UFC 294 bout versus Jinh Yu Frey.
During her post-fight interview, Dudakova revealed that she had a staph infection on her butt and "places that isn't necessarily OK to announce to the world."
She also announced that it's since popped "leaving her backside completely bloodied up." She also said she lied to the commission in order to be allowed to fight, potentially putting herself, her opponent and all fighters competing on the mats in serious danger.
Viktoriia Dudakova reveals she had staph infection on her butt "and places that isn't necessarily OK to announce to the world."
— MMA Junkie (@MMAJunkie) October 21, 2023
She also says she passed out during her #UFC294 weight cut.
Full video: https://t.co/HrPkOisc9y pic.twitter.com/zJOf3kQMmO
But that's not all. She also admitted to fainting during her weigth cut.
Someone needs to talk to her about keeping some things to herself.
By the way, she said she lied to the commission/doctors to keep the fight together, and they only found out post fight. I don’t imagine they’re happy. https://t.co/0gt8e0vXNR
— Oscar Willis (@oscarswillis) October 21, 2023
Dudakova weighed in .6 pounds above the strawweight limit of 116 pounds, and was fined 20 percent of her purse to her opponent.
Ilir Latifi was suspended by the NSAC for fighting with staph infection last year
This isn't the first time something like this has happened. In October 2022, Ilir Latifi announced in the cage after his UFC Vegas 61 fight that he was fighting with staph.
“I didn’t even tell my coaches, but I got a staph infection two days ago,” Latifisaid. "As you can see, my leg is all swollen. It’s an amazing sport, but the margins are so small. You put in so much work, and this thing happens the last day. Today, actually when I woke up, my leg was swollen. I was like, ‘I can’t cancel again.’ So I had to fight like this with a fever and a staph infection. That’s part of being a fighter.”
The Nevada State Athletic Commission suspended and fined Latifi for the incident.