Rumors of staph infection endangering Sean Strickland's UFC 297 outing sparks wild social media reactions - "Strip him"

A recent clip featuring UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland has been doing the rounds of the internet and causing a lot of commotion.

An Instagram account named @monicasauce uploaded a story to their account showing a bruise on the side of Strickland's stomach.

A Twitter account named @MmaUnderdogs then proceeded to share the clip and claimed that 'Tarzan' might be suffering from a staph infection. The user added that this could potentially put his upcoming UFC 297 fight in jeopardy.

The clip caught the attention of MMA fans on the internet who went on to share their reactions in the comments section.

One individual stated that if the bruise was indeed from a staph infection, the UFC champion should withdraw from the contest and a clash between Dricus du Plessis and Jared Cannonier should be scheduled as a replacement for the interim title.

"If that's staph, no reason for him to fight. Let's see Cannonier vs. Dricus for the interim."

Another user claimed for Strickland to be alright and said that the 32-year-old will outclass his opponent at UFC 297.

"Yeah, he's clearly fine. He'll be dominating Dricus in a couple weeks as planned."

There were some who argued that the bruise was from a firework burn but there has been no confirmation regarding the same.

Check out a compilation of some of the comments below:

MMA fans react to a clip featuring Sean Strickland

Strickland is scheduled to defend his title against du Plessis at UFC 297. The event will take place on Jan. 20 at the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Canada.

'Tarzan' is currently on a three-fight win streak and defeated Israel Adesanya to win the title in his last outing. 'Stillknocks', on the other hand, has won all six of his UFC encounters and knocked out former champion Robert Whittaker in his last fight.

So, it will be interesting to see as to who will emerge victorious in the highly anticipated clash come Jan. 20.