In fight week for UFC 324, Justin Gaethje has spent as much time fielding questions about a mark on his neck as about Paddy Pimblett and the interim lightweight belt. After weeks of online speculation that he might be dealing with a staph infection, Gaethje grew visibly irritated when the subject came up again during media duties, snapping at a reporter and insisting his health is nobody else’s business.
The story started earlier in January, when fans studying footage from Gaethje’s YouTube camp series noticed a raised, reddened spot on the side of his neck and a blemish near his lip. Clipped screenshots circulated across X, Reddit, and Instagram, with many users convinced the mark looked like staph or “mat herpes” rather than simple skin irritation. With UFC 324 headlining the promotion’s first Paramount+ era event and billed as a key moment for Gaethje’s final run at UFC gold, talk quickly turned to whether the fight might be at risk.
Gaethje pushed back on the rumours early and often. On January 6, he posted on social media: “Did you screen shot me eating brisket from my YouTube video to make it look like I have herpes on my lip? my neck is a healing ingrown hair.” In a follow-up message he doubled down: “It’s an ingrown hair on my neck and brisket hanging out of my mouth, Nostradamus.” Man outlets ran pieces repeating his explanation and stressing that there was no official word from doctors that he had staph or that the bout was in jeopardy.
That did little to settle the debate. As fight week arrived, new photos appeared to show Gaethje with a small bandage or sticker over the same area, feeding more posts claiming he was hiding an active infection and might fail Nevada commission medicals. Some MMA news shows even floated the idea that Arman Tsarukyan could be used as a late replacement if doctors refused to clear Gaethje with an open wound. None of that speculation was confirmed by the UFC or regulators, and the lightweight contender ultimately weighed in successfully, with no announced medical issues and the main event intact.
The tension peaked during a UFC 324 fight-week interview with Brazilian outlet Ag. Fight. When a reporter raised the visible neck mark and asked whether it was an injury or infection, Gaethje snapped back, “What’s wrong with you?” before adding, “You’ve ever heard of HIPAA? What’s wrong with you? It means don’t ask me about my body. I won’t ask you about yours.” The clip spread quickly on social media, with many fans pointing out that HIPAA – a U.S. health-privacy law – governs how medical providers handle patient data, not whether an athlete can be asked about a visible issue during media day.
For now, the only confirmed facts are that Gaethje says the mark is a healing ingrown hair, the Nevada commission has cleared him, and UFC 324’s main event against Pimblett is proceeding as scheduled.
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