Undefeated Russian sensation Victoria Dudakova wanted to make an impression with her UFC 294 victory over Jinh Yu Frey on the Oct. 21 “Prelims” card in Abu Dhabi, though I don’t think this is what the 24 year-old strawweight had in mind.
Dudakova (8-0), much like Brazilian bruiser Paulo Costa, was stricken with staph infection leading up to the promotion’s pay-per-view (PPV) return to UAE. But unlike “The Eraser,” the former “Contender Series” standout was able to keep hers under wraps.
Literally.
“I have to tell you, this time around I wasn’t able to wrestle, I’ll explain why,” Dudakova said through a translator (transcribed by MMA News). “For the past month, I had staph infection. Actually, my back side, my butt is completely bloodied up right now. I have staph infection in places that is not necessarily okay to announce to the whole world. I was just fighting with the doctors over there, my manager was fighting with the doctors, because they just checked me after the fight and they said ‘Why didn’t you tell us before, because we would’ve had to take you off the fight,’ and I did not want to be taken off the fight. I think after the fight or sometime during the fight, there was an abscess that appeared, and I think now it popped because everything is completely bloodied up.”
Dudakova is no stranger to gruesome, in-cage injuries.
Her decision to hide the infection is likely to land her in hot water with the promotion. Former UFC heavyweight Ilir Latifi was suspended from competition for failing to disclose a similar issue before his victory over Aleksei Oleinik at UFC Vegas 61.
Competing with staph also put her opponent at risk.
UFC 294, featuring the lightweight championship rematch between Islam Makhachev and Alexander Volkanovski, is currently underway from Abu Dhabi and you can follow along with our live results threads for both the “Prelims” and PPV main cards here and here.
For more UFC 294 news, notes, highlights, and more click here.