Benoit St. Denis shuts down staph rumors ahead of UFC 329

Benoit St. Denis has addressed concerns that a foot injury could scrap his co-main event fight with Paddy Pimblett at UFC 329.

Sharp-eyed fans spotted a mark on the French lightweight's right foot in recent training footage and feared a staph infection that might cancel the July 11 bout at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. St. Denis told RMC Sport Combat the visible mark is nothing more than a scab. "No, not at all, I don't have staph," he said, per Sherdog. "Everything happens very quickly on social media; it's crazy. I did have a scab on my foot, yes, but it's not staph."

St. Denis faced similar speculation before Poirier fight

The 30-year-old lightweight dealt with nearly identical rumors before his 2024 bout against Dustin Poirier, which went ahead as scheduled. Staph infections are contagious and typically force fight cancellations — Robert Whittaker's 2018 case spread to his stomach and became serious enough to pull him from a card.

St. Denis rides a four-fight win streak into Saturday, all finishes. Pimblett is coming off a loss to Justin Gaethje in an interim title fight that ended the Englishman's seven-fight UFC run. The Frenchman told RMC Sport that his camp and fatigue management have been handled well heading into the co-main event slot.

Original reporting:

• sherdog.com — Benoit St. Denis breaks silence on UFC 329 fight scare