At the UFC 324 headliner, Justin Gaethje defeated Paddy Pimblett to become a two-time interim lightweight champion. While ‘The Highlight’ showed off his trademark power and knocked down the Liverpudlian multiple times over 25 minutes of action, he was unable to score a clean knockout. Because of that, some fans believed Gaethje may have lost some sting on his punches due to a staph infection on his neck. But was that actually true?

Ahead of his first Paramount+ CBS main event, the Arizona slugger revealed that the mark on his neck came from an ingrown hair, not an infection. However, industry voices like Chael Sonnen dismissed that explanation, suggesting Justin Gaethje was not being fully honest. The lightweight veteran also appeared visibly frustrated when repeatedly questioned about the mark during UFC 324 fight week. Now, putting those doubts to rest, the newly crowned interim champion’s manager, Ali Abdelaziz, confirmed that Gaethje dealt with a bad ingrown hair and took antibiotics before the fight.  

Justin Gaethje took antibiotics before the UFC 324 main event fight 

“No, no. He was fine. He just had an ingrown hair. He took some antibiotics, you know. Obviously, antibiotics are not good to take before a fight. But he was fine. No complaints. No excuse. You know, everybody is banged up, everybody is hurt before a fight,” the Dominance MMA CEO told MMA Junkie.

At 37, Gaethje still looked sharp while handling the younger Paddy Pimblett across five rounds. Still, competing while on antibiotics could have affected his pace. For instance, Benoit Saint-Denis previously pointed out how antibiotic treatment derailed his performance against Dustin Poirier at the UFC 299 co-main event, which ended with ‘The Diamond’ scoring a brutal knockout over the Frenchman.

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Fortunately for Gaethje, he looked fresh throughout the fight. Furthermore, Abdelaziz also added that ‘The Highlight’ was never interested in excuses and would have been upset if his team tried to offer any, even in defeat. 

“He’s the type of guy who’ll never use an excuse. And actually, I would not make an excuse for him, because he’ll be mad at me,” Ali Abdelaziz added.   

After addressing the speculations surrounding Gaethje’s ingrown hair, Abdelaziz addressed another major point of contention involving the UFC CEO.  

Ali Abdelaziz clears ‘The Highlight’s contract dispute with Dana White  

At the UFC 324 media day, Justin Gaethje sparked major debate around fighter pay in the UFC’s new $7.7 billion broadcast era. The lightweight legend revealed that he had not seen any increase in pay despite going through multiple wars inside the Octagon. The attention then turned toward Dana White, with fans questioning whether fighters are being compensated fairly. Facing the pressure, the UFC CEO chose to address the issue.

On The Pat McAfee Show, White clarified that Justin Gaethje was offered a deal worth significantly more than his previous contract, but ‘The Highlight’ unexpectedly turned it down. While the UFC president did not go into further detail, the discussion quickly heated up again, with viewers asking why Gaethje would walk away from more money. Now, the two-time interim champion’s manager has confirmed that Gaethje did, in fact, reject a more lucrative offer.

“Dana was right. There was an offer made. It was made. But sometimes it’s a little bit more money. Dana was not lying. But in reality, Justin, maybe he was not OK with the offer. But everything worked out correctly. Justin is good. Now we get to talk. I always go for the athletes, we’re all men, we all have testosterone, and Justin is emotional. He speaks. Justin is not lying. Nobody in the UFC deserves to make more money than Justin Gaethje. I don’t give a s—t. Nobody,” Ali Abdelaziz said. 

While the Dominance MMA CEO confirmed the negotiations, he did not go into detail about what prompted Justin Gaethje to walk away from more money. Still, it would not be a stretch to assume it had everything to do with title implications and Gaethje choosing a different path rather than facing Paddy Pimblett for the interim belt.

That said, with the Arizona native now gearing up to face champion Ilia Topuria, the bigger question looms. Do you think he will be 100 percent healthy going into that fight and receive the pay bump many believe he deserves? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.