The UFC top brass had never before promoted a fight like they had with UFC 189.
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Millions of dollars were spent on high-quality promos, expensive television spots and a World Tour across five countries and eight cities.
All of that spending came to a stunning halt when reports out of Brazil last week indicated Jose Aldo had suffered a broken rib in training ahead of his blockbuster Featherweight title defence against rising star Conor McGregor.
At first it appeared the fight may still happen when it was reported that he was medically cleared by doctors, however Aldo recently posted his X-Ray results that indicated a break.
This is not something Aldo is unfamiliar with. The only champion at Featherweight the UFC has ever known has already pulled out of five title fights during his time at the top.
I was asked to review Jose Aldo rib films. Yes, he has definite fracture. Here are actual images. White line is break pic.twitter.com/gBYemmqm5V
— David J. Chao, MD (@ProFootballDoc) July 2, 2015
The backlash to Aldo pulling out was understandable, if not expected. There will be those who claim that he was scared of facing McGregor, that Aldo feared the Irishman’s striking abilities. Don’t bank on it. Aldo stood to earn the biggest purse of his career and given the risks in MMA, fighters are wise to take the money given there are no guarantees down the line. And if McGregor now loses against stand-in Chad Mendes, then that fight is dead in the water.
It is particularly ironic that his training partner who caused the injury, Alcides Nunes, was mimicking McGregor’s unique striking when the injury occurred.
Aldo is no stranger to fighting in pain. During his title fight with Chan Sung Jung, the Korean Zombie, he suffered a broken foot in the first round, ultimately going the better part of four rounds before getting the TKO.
By pulling out of this fight, you have to take Aldo at his word.
He would have been physically hindered from competing at his best, and his damaged rib would have been a target for McGregor’s strikes.
Aldo cares about his legacy far too much to risk fighting with a severe disadvantage and losing the title belt he worked so hard for.
However, all is not lost. On paper, this UFC 189 card still looks like the best show so far this year, and the main event still features McGregor – the most popular fighter this side of Ronda Rousey.
Aldo’s stand in, Mendes, presents exactly the kind of problem that he would not have faced against Aldo – wrestling.
Many wondered how effective McGregor would be when he had to defend constantly against the threat of a takedown.
Mendes has proven that aside from Aldo he can beat anyone.
He also possesses some of the best knockout power in the division as evidenced by his first round knockout of former contender Ricardo Lamas earlier this year.
Against Aldo, he proved mostly unsuccessful with his takedown attempts but Aldo’s takedown defense has always been extremely advanced. Against McGregor, that is yet to be determined.
Despite his public comments to the contrary, you have to believe that McGregor has to be extremely disappointed with the way things have unfolded.
“It would’ve been nice if Jose didn’t p***y out but we’ll take the B level guy & still break records”@TheNotoriousMMA pic.twitter.com/rt4kxSMSLc
— UFC (@ufc) July 5, 2015
Instead of a full title, he gets an ‘interim’ title shot and instead of preparing to fight a man who likes to stand and trade in the pocket, he gets an accomplished wrestler who’s not afraid to make this ugly with much of the fight taking place against the cage.
If he loses, those calling him overrated gain further motivation because he didn’t even lose to the champion.
However, McGregor will have a significant size and reach advantage and if he can prove he is able to stop the takedown and secure another highlight reel knockout this will make the unification bout with Aldo an even bigger seller than UFC 189 was projected to be.
It’s going to be a tight battle, and one perfectly landed strike can be the difference in this contest.
Prediction – Chad Mendes by TKO
