Kenny Florian, a respected veteran of the lightweight and featherweight division, has some advice for reigning featherweight champion Jose Aldo-don't fight Conor McGregor on July 11 at UFC 189.
Aldo is dealing with a serious rib injury that nearly forced him to pull out from the main event. Aldo was initially thought to have broken a rib in training, but tests showed it was a bone bruise. For now, Aldo is fighting through the pain and plans to be in the main event. Florian worries that McGregor will target the injury now that he knows exactly what it is.
"Here's the problem of why this fight may not come together is also the fear. You know as a fighter, yeah, we go into fights having bumps and bruises and injuries and different things like that. But the fact that Conor McGregor knows exactly what the injury is, where it is, and all the other issues makes it very difficult for a fighter like Jose Aldo, with so much on the line, to go in there and take that risk," Florian said.
McGregor has said he wouldn't target the injury, and in fact would be gunning for a spectacular knockout.
"I'm going to go for the chin -- I want to knock him out. He doesn't need to worry about his ribs, and I'm not going to go out and purposely target an area. If he shows up and fights, which he should do, we'll fight as scheduled," McGregor said.
"I'm not going to start diving at things. I'm just going to fight my fight. It's the chin I am hunting.... It turns out it's just a bruised rib. Little bit of ice, little bit of ibuprofen, little bit of 'toughen the f-ck up,' and we should get on with the fight."
If McGregor finds himself in more trouble than expected though-which could be the case against such a versatile and dangerous fighter as Aldo-he may get desperate and go for the week spot. If it were Florian in the octagon, that is what he said he would do.
"At this level, man, if I'm Conor McGregor I'm salivating! Knowing that Jose Aldo would have come into this fight with a bad rib injury I'm going to attack it all day. You know all's fair once that bell rings and you're good to go, all is fair and as an opponent you know whatever... it's not cheating once you're in there."
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