UFC 189 Update: Jose Aldo Vs. Conor McGregor Still On? Surprising Names Willing To Take Aldo’s Place If He’s Not Cleared To Fight
Other than Jon Jones vs. Daniel Cormier this past January, there hasn’t been a fight with more hype behind it than the UFC Featherweight Championship fight between Jose Aldo and Conor McGregor, which is scheduled to take place at UFC 189 in a little over two weeks. However, it was reported yesterday that Jose Aldo — the champion — had suffered a rib injury in training, which may cause him to miss the fight.
Shortly after Aldo’s injury was reported, Aldo said that he is still willing to fight McGregor in July 11, and he is continuing to train for the bout. The champion’s status for UFC 189 is in the hands of the Nevada State Athletic Commission, and if Aldo isn’t cleared to fight by the NSAC, his injury could cause him to miss up to nine months of action.
It appears that Aldo suffered a fractured rib while he was sparring with training partner Alcides Nunes. Today, Nunes talked about how the injury occurred, and noted that he was asked to be a part of Aldo’s fight camp because his style was similar to Conor McGregor’s, and that the injury occurred after he threw a kick that accidentally hit Aldo’s ribs.
“I threw a kick but slipped with all the sweat on the mat, and ended up hitting his rib. I was mimicking McGregor’s unorthodox style, things he does in the fight. I’m also left-handed, my style is similar to his, so that’s why they asked me to be part of his camp, but I ended up slipping and causing this injury. He finished the round, and then decided to stop. I’m sure he would continue to train if he could.”
Nunes wasn’t the only person to speak out about Jose Aldo’s rib injury, as the challenger for the UFC Featherweight Championship Conor McGregor finally broke his silence on the subject today via Twitter, describing his training camp as “business as usual.”
Just know that it is business as usual up here at the top. See you all on July 11th. pic.twitter.com/WXGPRFWj0y
— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) June 24, 2015
During Wednesday’s UFC Tonight, Ariel Helwani said that if Jose Aldo isn’t able to fight on July 11, that three big names — Chand Mendes, Frankie Edgar, and Nate Diaz — have volunteered to take the fight on short notice. There’s no word yet on whether or not it’ll be an interim title fight if Aldo isn’t able to fight, but, due to the fact that he’ll be out for at least nine months, there’s a good chance that the UFC will make the featherweight bout at UFC 189 an interim championship.
[Image via WAW Nation]
