A DECISION ON Jose Aldo’s fitness could come later today as the UFC featherweight champion trains for the first time since sustaining an injury last week.
Aldo hurt his ribs during a sparring session but there have been conflicting reports regarding the severity of the setback — American doctors say the ribs are merely bruised, but the Brazilian suffered a fracture according to doctors in Rio de Janeiro.
Aldo is set to defend his belt against Ireland’s Conor McGregor in the main event at UFC 189 in Las Vegas on Saturday, 11 July. The bout is still scheduled to go ahead but Chad Mendes is on standby to fight McGregor for an interim title if Aldo is ruled out.
The Nevada State Athletic Commission will oversee Saturday week’s fight and their executive director Bob Bennett told Brett Okamoto of ESPN that it’s “highly unlikely” Aldo won’t receive medical clearance to compete.
Bennett said: “Doctor Trainor [NSAC's consulting physician] is currently awaiting to see the medical documents and at this point in time, we think it is highly unlikely Aldo will have any trouble competing. Dr. Trainor has told me this type of injury [rib contusion] is fairly common and usually improves within a few days.”
“We already have Dr. Trainor in communication with the UFC and we are making sure Aldo’s injury is not going to prevent him from fighting. We’re already working on it now. We’ve been discussing this for the last week, going back and forth, trying to get documents. Upon further medical review of Aldo’s documents, we will have a confirmed answer.”
However, if Dr. Trainor’s diagnosis does reveal that Aldo’s ribs are fractured, NSAC chairman Francisco Aguilar said the possibility of the fight being given the green light would have to be discussed with his ringside physicians.
“That’s something I would have to talk to the doctors about and find out how it would impact the fight,” Aguilar said. “From a novice’s perspective, I would think a rib injury would have a major impact on a fighter’s abilities, but I would need a doctor’s analysis before denying medical clearance.”
Speaking to Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour, Jonas Bilharinho — one of Jose Aldo’s sparring partners — said Aldo will be back in the gym today, which could reveal if he’s in a position to fight in 11 days’ time.
“I think he will probably fight. And I hope so,” Bilharinho said. “I will be with him on Tuesday to see what he’s capable of doing during training or not, but my opinion right now is that he’s going to fight. I’m going to be optimistic about it because Aldo wants this fight so bad. I think this fight will probably happen.”
