Conor McGregor shares six-word reaction to staph infection potentially derailing UFC 312 main event between Dricus du Plessis and Sean Strickland

Despite Conor McGregor's notable absence from the octagon, the former two-division champion actively follows the sport, often chiming in on social media. Recently, 'The Notorious' shared his thoughts about Sean Strickland, one-half of the main event of UFC 312, dealing with a potential staph infection.

Re-sharing a post from West Till Death MMA which claimed the UFC 312 main event might be in jeopardy on his Instagram story, McGregor dropped a six-word reaction, writing:

"Staph, the one staple in MMA."

Conor McGregor's Instagram Story [Image courtesy @thenotoriousmma on Instagram]

The infection, caused by the staphylococcus bacteria, is prevalent in MMA. Jiri Prochazka had the infection going into the fight against Alex Pereira at UFC 300. More recently, Islam Makhachev had it before he fought Dustin Poirier at UFC 302. Incidentally, Poirier's previous opponent, Benoit Saint-Denis, also had it when they fought at UFC 299.

As for Sean Strickland, the former middleweight champion quashed any rumors about the infection. When asked about it during the pre-fight press conference of UFC 312, he said:

"Listen, you motherf**ker. I'm immune to staph. You see this f**king mustache? I give staph; I don't f**king get staph. Calm the f**k down. I don't get sick. I don't get f**king injured."

"I don't get f**king staph. So relax. I'm going to be out there on Sunday, and I'm going to come out f**king hard and strong. The hardest and strongest you've ever f**king seen. To the f**king death Dutchman."

Interestingly, Strickland was asked about the infection after Dricus du Plessis raised concerns about it through his social media. The use of 'Dutchman' at the end of Strickland's tirade is an indirect jab at Du Plessis, who although South African, is a descendant of colonial settlers, originally from the Netherlands.

Check out Sean Strickland's comments below (21:14):

Conor McGregor blasted Islam Makhachev for staph infection going into UFC 302

Conor McGregor has a contentious relationship with Khabib Nurmagomedov and his teammates, often directing social media tirades at them. As such, it was unsurprising that the Irishman criticized the pound-for-pound king, days before UFC 302.

In two tweets on X, which he later deleted, McGregor claimed the whole team of Makhachev had the infection. Moreover, he jokingly urged them to be clean.

Nevertheless, the Irishman predicted victory for the Russian fighter against Dustin Poirier. McGregor got his prediction partly right as Makhachev won via submission in the fifth round. The Irishman had predicted a victory in round 1.

Check out McGregor's deleted tweets below, courtesy of MMAJunkie: