3 UFC fighters who came back from severe illnesses

Despite the required might of being a UFC fighter, sickness still happens. Many fighters have fought through colds, flus and the grapplers’ nightmare they call ring worm over the years. As grueling as these conditions may be, they are relatively straightforward to recover from.

Other times, however, fighters find their very lives in the balance at the drop of a dime. From super athlete to bed-ridden, these fighters had to do battle with a very different kind of opponent.

Happily, as terrifying as these potentially life-threatening ordeals were, the following three fighters shook them off. Here are three UFC champions who came back from debilitating diseases:

#3. Former UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker

The first ever Oceanic UFC champion revealed some crushing news ahead of UFC 221. On account of a grim abscess infection in his hamstring coupled with chickenpox, Robert Whittaker had to pull out. His middleweight title defense against Luke Rockhold in front of a raucous Perth crowd was off.

Whittaker had fought through training camp setbacks in the past. This time, however, his illnesses were simply too much to battle through. As severe as chickenpox can be for kids, it has often proven fatal for those who catch it in adulthood.

On top of that, the symptoms of the abscess infection left ‘The Reaper’ bedridden for several weeks. Fortunately, Whittaker eventually made a full recovery and returned to the octagon at UFC 225. There, he picked up a split decision victory over the super-athletic Yoel Romero.

Of his four fights since then, Whittaker first dropped the middleweight strap to the then-unstoppable Israel Adesanya at UFC 243. ‘The Reaper’ has won three in a row since then and will likely get another shot at ‘The Last Stylebender’ soon.

#2. Former UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov

Crazy alert 🚨🚨In an interview with Magomed Ismailov, Khabib Nurmagomedov revealed just how bad his case of the mumps was before his #UFC 254 victory over Justin Gaethje. Nuts that he recovered from it so quickly to put on arguably his most dominant display in the cage. pic.twitter.com/98PSLXqDi3

— Chisanga Malata (@Chisanga_Malata) February 20, 2021

As if having to fight Justin Gaethje wasn’t scary enough, 'The Eagle' found himself in mortal danger before the fight. Just one day before Khabib Nurmagomedov was meant to take a plane to Abu Dhabi for UFC 254, his face grew swollen. As a veteran fighter, Khabib is no stranger to facial bruising. This, however, was something else entirely.

Upon arriving in Abu Dhabi, a deathly ill Nurmagomedov was taken into intensive care. There, they diagnosed the issue - Khabib had the mumps. Along with melon-sized swelling and general fatigue, he struggled with a nuclear high fever for five days before finally being discharged from hospital.

Considerably worse for wear than normal, Khabib’s delayed training camp didn’t go hugely well either. Perhaps it was the battering his immune system had just taken that left the sambo king injury prone. Fracturing his thumb and big toe, he even considered calling off the fight entirely.

Happily for fight fans everywhere, the Nurmagomedov/Gaethje clash went ahead. Despite all the obstacles, Nurmagomedov secured the win with a second round triangle choke submission win. He announced his retirement from active competition that same night.

#1. Former UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar

At the height of his UFC success, Brock Lesnar’s innards went into business for themselves. The reigning UFC heavyweight champ was coming off his UFC 100 win over Frank Mir when the symptoms hit. During a hunting trip in 2009, Lesnar found himself doubling over in abdominal agony.

Doctors later revealed he was suffering from diverticulitis, a potentially fatal intestinal illness. Diverticulitis sufferers normally face complications with inflammation and abnormal structures in the large intestinal wall.

Despite the crippling pain, Lesnar eventually mounted a comeback, returning to the octagon at UFC 116. Despite his lengthy absence and poor health, Lesnar managed to submit Shane Carwin in round two with an arm-triangle choke.

Unfortunately for The Beast, his troubles were far from over. The disease returned in 2011, soon after his UFC 121 title loss to Cain Velasquez.

After having several inches of his colon removed, Lesnar returned at UFC 141 where he fell to a brutal liver shot from Alistair Overeem. Lesnar returned to WWE soon after where he continued to draw impressive pay-per-view buy rates for years.