Great news fight fans, it turns out that Jose Aldo will still be fighting Conor McGregor in the main event of UFC 189 after scan results revealed that he hasn’t fractured his rib.
“In light of recent reports regarding the status of UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo, UFC has received official medical confirmation from several doctors that Aldo did not suffer a broken rib,” a statement from the UFC reads. “Following a review of the scans, it has been determined that the champion suffered a bone bruise to his rib and cartilage injury during training.
“With the news, Aldo has expressed that he has every intention of facing Conor McGregor at UFC 189.”
Reacting to the news, McGregor couldn’t resist poking fun at his opponent, writing, “It turned out he just had a little period pain,” on Twitter.
All jokes aside though, for a few days there it really had looked like the injury Aldo suffered after taking a kick to the mid-section during a sparring session would force the cancellation of what the UFC had billed as the ‘Fight Of The Year’.
That would have been a disaster for all concerned given that the UFC had already acknowledged they’d spent more money promoting this bout than any other in their history, while Chael Sonnen, who’s been in some blockbuster fights himself over the years estimated that Aldo was set to lose out on a massive $3.5 million payday (largely due to his entitlement to a cut of the PPV revenue as the current featherweight champion).
With that in mind it’s only natural that some might be suspicious of whether Aldo really is well enough to compete, or is trying to cover up the extent of the injury in order to keep this show on the road.
However, Nevada State Athletic Commission chairman Francisco Aguilar has confirmed to ESPN that they will be overseeing Aldo’s condition themselves in order to ensure that he is fit to step into the Octagon on July 11th in Las Vegas.
“It’s our duty and obligation to ensure a licensed fighter is healthy before competing,” Aguilar said. “We’re going to have our doctors independently evaluate the situation.”
In case anything does go wrong, the UFC have revealed that they’ve drafted in former title challenger Chad Mendes to serve as back-up to Aldo, so it looks like whatever happens McGregor would still feature on the card which will form the centerpiece of the UFC’s ‘International Fight Week’ celebrations which sees tens of thousands of MMA fans descend upon Las Vegas each year.
Mendes is the current No.1 ranked contender in the division and is coming off a TKO victory over Ricardo Lamas back in April in his first fight back after losing out for a second time to Aldo back in 2014.
As things stand though Mendes shouldn’t be required and Aldo will still be able to fight McGregor in a fight that every MMA fan wants to see.
