This does not sound good.
The prospect of Conor McGregor’s featherweight title bout against Jose Aldo at UFC 189 going ahead appear to be diminishing by the minute after it emerged that the Brazilian might not be fit to fight until October of this year.
UFC fans, particularly on this side of the water, freaked out last night when it emerged that Aldo had suffered a suspected fractured rib in training, an injury believed to be the result of a stray kick to the ribs from his training partner Alcides Nunes.
UFC President Dana White appealed for calm as the Aldo news sparked a frenzied reaction online last night, but in an interview with Combate, Aldo’s coach Andre Pederneiras speculated that if the rib is fractured, the champion might not be able to fight until October.
“He cried. He wants this fight bad, everybody invested a lot in this,” Pederneiras said.
“I was with him the whole afternoon. He’s heartbroken. He wants to fight anyway. Now we have to wait for the exam results. Aldo is in deep pain.”
“If the fracture is really confirmed, Aldo will have to stop training, do nothing for three or four weeks until it’s fixed, and then he would be able to do any exercise without forcing his rib,” Pederneiras added.
“And then he would need a normal time to do a training camp: three months. I believe this fight wouldn’t happen before October.”
Aldo is due to discover today (see tweet via Bleacher Report’s Jeremy Botter below) if he will be fit to take on McGregor at the MGM Grand on July 11, but it’s not looking too good right now it has to be said.
https://twitter.com/jeremybotter/status/613578379992788992
Hat-tip to SevereMMA
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