Jose Aldo, the UFC featherweight champion and top-ranked pound-for-pound fighter in the company, said he plans on battling through a rib injury and fighting Conor McGregor in the UFC 189 main event on July 11. A teammate of Aldo's isn't so sure though, citing severe pain that is making it difficult for Aldo to do even basic things inside the octagon.
"He was walking slowly to not feel the pain on the ribs. It's disturbing. You can't punch, you can't move, you can't breathe, but the pain was still fresh. I don't know right now. It's probably better. If the pain got worse, he will probably not fight," Jonas Bilharinho, his training partner said.
The key phrase though is "if the pain got worse." Bilharinho said he thinks Aldo will try to tough it out, regardless of the wisdom in that decision.
"But I think the fight is going to happen. I don't think it will get any worse. It's a little bit painful, but there are some kinds of pain that we can hold during fights and there are some kinds of pain that we can't hold. I hope that it's one of the ones that we can hold. We will test him on Tuesday. Tuesday is the big day."
McGregor is going to fight either way, and Chad Mendes is the replacement on tap if Aldo can't go. Mendes is one of the top fighters in the UFC as well, but he's had the misfortune of having to go through Aldo to get to the top. So far he's failed twice vs. Aldo, but thinks his style will crush McGregor.
"Every single morning when I wake up. I'm excited. I think this is a great matchup for me. Conor is a tough guy, but, he is a guy that I know I can beat. He better pray that Aldo can get in there and fight because I am going to mess that dude up," Mendes said.
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