Mikey Musumeci addressed both his hospitalization and the backlash surrounding his decision to compete while dealing with a staph infection during a recent episode of the Overdogs BJJ podcast, which was recorded from his hospital bed on Monday.
Musumeci revealed that he has been hospitalized since immediately after his match on Thursday night.
“I finished my match on Thursday night and immediately after my match I went to the hospital and I’ve been here in the hospital since then,” he said. “I’ve been getting great care.”
The multiple-time world champion also defended his decision to compete, explaining that the UFC’s medical staff thoroughly evaluated him beforehand and cleared him to compete.
“UFC has two doctors that actually check your whole body before competing. They don’t let you just go out like they don’t just like support staff or anything,” Musumeci explained. “I was on antibiotics. I was on doxycycline and amoxiclav, two different types of antibiotics. One covers MRSA, the other covers staph. So it basically covers everything. And I was on that for over 72 hours.”
According to Musumeci, the infection site itself was properly sealed and posed no risk to his opponent.
“I didn’t have any open wound with pus coming out or anything,” he said. “It was pretty dry and like it was completely dry and sealed. So the UFC staff then added another layer covering it with tape and bandages. Then we put spats over that. So there was really no way for me to harm my opponent.”
While Musumeci stood by the medical precautions that were taken, he admitted the weight cut likely made his condition significantly worse.
“When you’re in a hospital and you’re ill with an infection, the first thing they do is give you fluids, IV,” Musumeci said. “Me, I was removing water from my body while with an infection, which is why I think I got so ill.”
He went on to describe just how physically drained he felt leading into the match, revealing that he slept for nearly 20 hours before competition day.
“I slept 20 hours the night before,” he said. “I was still asleep at 4:00 a.m. when I needed to leave. Every time I start warming up, I’m getting dizzy.”
Musumeci also addressed criticism over the way he initially talked about competing with staph after the event. Looking back, he admitted he framed the situation poorly.
“I think at the end the only mistake I made was I talked about that I competed with staph and I made it like it was like a flex,” Musumeci admitted. “Look at me, I competed with staph. I think that was wrong of me the way I presented it. I think that I should have just said I was ill and I competed.”
Despite defending his own situation, Musumeci stressed that he does not want others using his experience as justification to train or compete while infected.
“I don’t recommend anyone compete with staph or train with staph,” he said. “I think that’s horrible. If you’re not on any antibiotics and you have staph, I really really tell you that you should not compete. It’s very dangerous and you shouldn’t train as well. Go to doctors, get on medication, and let them tell you when you could train.”
The situation also carries personal significance for Musumeci because of his past struggles with severe staph infections.
“When I was 12 years old, I almost had my arm amputated from MRSA,” he revealed. “I take staph very serious. I’ve been battling staph my whole life with antibiotics.”
Musumeci said he was expected to remain hospitalized until at least Wednesday while continuing IV antibiotic treatment.
