Jose Aldo reportedly injured; McGregor megafight could be off

[PorkChop]

Reports everywhere on Twitter that Aldo has fractured his ribs. Confirmed by Brazilian media, no word from UFC yet.

Fuck this shit.

[SlightlyJames]

Oh for fuck's sake. Months upon months of hype and this fight could be canned? Eugh.

[prophet]

That would be heartbreaking for us McGregor fans, fucking hope it isn't true.

Aldo running scared.

[AkydefGoldberg]

Considering how this fight has been excellently promoted on here, even I'll be disappointed it doesn't happen!

Great fuel for Conor though, can easily spin this as the guy don't want to face him.

[prophet]

Hope.

We know Aldo's head trainer is looking to call it a day after this fight. Do we think Aldo is preparing his excuses already? I can't wait for Conor to comment.

[PorkChop]

If Aldo cancels this I'll be so fucking mad.

[Taveus]

If Aldo cancels this I'll be so fucking mad.

I won't be. If he legitimately fractured his ribs and is not going to be able to fight 100%, I don't want to see it. Sorry. McGregor against a hurt Aldo isn't appealing to me.

It really sucks for the UFC though because if Aldo pulls out, there's no chance in hell they'll let McGregor anywhere near Mendes or Edgar. They want to ride this McGregor hype train all the way to the bank. If either one of them beats McGregor, they lose a shit ton of money. Odds are, they just delay McGregor/Aldo until early next year.

[prophet]

Master stroke from Aldo and his people.

I've just read an article on Bleacher Report titled 'McGregor is no longer fighting the real Aldo' which infuriated me. Don't shit on Conor or the fight because Aldo lost his cool in sparring because his partner began taunting him (as he was instructed to do). So now Aldo is in a win-win position - he'll either lose and people will put it down to him not being fully fit or he'll win and be heralded as the GOAT for overcoming such adversity.

[PorkChop]

Master stroke from Aldo and his people.

I've just read an article on Bleacher Report titled 'McGregor is no longer fighting the real Aldo' which infuriated me. Don't shit on Conor or the fight because Aldo lost his cool in sparring because his partner began taunting him (as he was instructed to do). So now Aldo is in a win-win position - he'll either lose and people will put it down to him not being fully fit or he'll win and be heralded as the GOAT for overcoming such adversity.

Anderson Silva's camp used the same excuse after his fight with Chael Sonnen at UFC 117. Anderson got schooled for 99% of the fight and then his camp said he had a rib injury afterwards, which helped restore some of Anderson's credibility and also made him appear more GOAT like for still getting the victory. Chael was roided to the gills, but Anderson's "rib injury" was just to save face.

Excuses seem quite common with Brazilian fighters, and it's become a running joke in the MMA media. Off the top of my head, here are some others I can think of:

- Bigfoot Silva "I lost to Velasquez because I had an estrogen problem which caused me to lactate"
- JDS "I lost to Velasquez as I had a blood infection and problems with my ex-wife"
- Nogueira "I lost to Mir as I had a staph infection"
- Barao "I lost to Dillashaw as I had every illness under the sun"
- Belfort (too many to list - I'd be here all night)
- Arona "My skull is too thin which is why I get knocked out so easily, it's not because I'm shit. Promise"

I could probably list a few more too.

[PorkChop]

Aldo is out, Mendes in. Interim title on the line.

[prophet]

This is why Aldo won't be remembered as one of the GOAT's in MMA history - what is this, like his fifth withdrawal? His sixth? The way he got injured was just fucking stupid, a reckless bit of sparring two weeks before the biggest fight/payday you'll ever have? That said he was right to pull out, an injured Aldo would have been mauled and whilst I'd have been happy to see that it would have been shat on by the media saying he wasn't fully fit.

Props to Conor for agreeing to fight Mendes on two weeks notice. He said he was offered the chance to pull out of the card and rearrange the fight for 7 weeks time but didn't want to let all the Irish/European fans down after they'd all spent so much, surely he's earned some respect there.

Mendes is going to try wrestle Conor into the ground, here's hoping his TD is strong because we've never seen him against a wrestler before.

[PorkChop]

I couldn't be more pissed off about this. If Mendes wins it'll be a travesty.

I hope Conor retires Aldo upon his return.

[lyonssv]

Does anyone else have the feeling that Mendes is going to maul McGregor?

We have not seen McGregor against an elite level wrestler like Mendes, and McGregor has spent all camp prepping for Aldo, a striker. And now two weeks before the fight, he has to switch up his entire mentality to fight a wrestler like Mendes. This just screams bad matchup, to me anyways. I hope McGregor wins, because I want to see McGregor/Aldo, but I don't think he is going to.

Also, to add, I'm SUPER pissed about this. I'm an Aldo nuthugger admittedly and have been for years, but I'm so mad at him right now. And I do not like McGregor, but props to him for taking such a tough fight on two weeks notice.

This injury problem is a HUGE problem in UFC right now. How many fights, main events, are fucked up continuously because a fighter gets hurt in camp? It's happening constantly these days. I started watching UFC around UFC 70, and don't really remember this ever being as bad of an issue.
'

[PorkChop]

Same, it seems over the last couple of years injuries have become far more frequent. Nova Uniao have a terrible injury record - I believe that this is the 5th fight of Aldo's title reign where he's pulled out due to injury. Nova Uniao seems to be a lot like Chute Boxe was, where sparring was basically full-on fighting.

I think McGregor has enough to get past Mendes. It's the toughest fight of his career on paper, but the striking, cardio and size advantage between them is massively in McGregor's favour. If McGregor keeps him at distance, boxes clever and wears Mendes down, I think he could get a finish or a dominant decision. I don't see Mendes finishing McGregor at all.