UFC star Dustin Poirier in hospital with potentially life-threatening Staph infection and warns ‘s***s getting serious’

UFC lightweight Dustin Poirier is in hospital battling a staph infection.

Fan favourite Poirier tweeted a picture of himself on a drip to his Instagram on Sunday - leading to a flurry of concerns for his well-being.

And it's since been revealed he's dealing with a bout of staph infection - which is caused by staphylococcus bacteria.

The former interim UFC lightweight champion, 33, has been hospitalised for two days with the potentially deadly and flesh-eating infection.

He tweeted: "Going on day 2 in the hospital sh*ts getting serious."

But The Diamond seems to be in good spirits as he's been engaging with a number of fans on Twitter.

Staph bacteria infections are not normally serious and result in minor skin irritations.

But they can be fatal if enters a person's bloodstream, bones, joints, heart or lungs.

It's not uncommon for mixed martial arts fighters to get staph infections due to the intense grappling they perform on a regular basis.

In fact, several fighters high-profile fighters have been struck down by staph - including former UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker.

JOIN SUN VEGAS: GET A FREE £10 BONUS WITH 100s OF GAMES TO PLAY AND NO DEPOSIT REQUIRED (Ts&Cs apply)

Whittaker contracted an infection in his stomach in February 2018 and ended up being sidelined for a year.

Ilir Latifi recently competed with a staph infection in his UFC Vegas 61 clash with Aleksei Oleinik and received a temporary suspension from the Nevada Athletic Commission.

The worst case of staph infection was undoubtedly suffered by the late Kevin Randleman, who had a history of contracting them.

Randleman's bout of the infection in 2007 left him with two huge HOLES under his armpit.

He was in critical condition for two weeks but eventually made a full recovery.

There is no suggestion Poirier's bout with illness is in any way life-threatening.