UFC 189 Main Event in Jeopardy? Jose Aldo Jr. Fractures Rib During Training [Report]

There is no guarantee that the UFC 189 main fight between Jose Aldo Jr. and Conor McGregor will push through after the former said to have suffered a fractured rib during his training for the upcoming match.

MMA Fighting noted that the UFC featherweight champion is in so much pain but still wants to fight it out with McGregor by next month.

Aldo claimed to have broken his rib while in sparring training with lightweight Alcides Nunes in Rio de Janeiro. Despite the serious injury, he is still determined to continue with the fight.

"He cried. He wants this fight bad, everybody invested a lot in this. I was with him the whole afternoon. He's heartbroken. He wants to fight anyway. Now we have to wait for the exam results. Aldo is in deep pain," Nova Uniao head coach Andre Pederneiras said.

The head coach said that he won't make any decisions for Aldo unless he consults with the doctors looking into his situation.

"If the fracture is really confirmed, Aldo will have to stop training, do nothing for three or four weeks until it's fixed, and then he would be able to do any exercise without forcing his rib. And then he would need a normal time to do a training camp: three months. I believe this fight wouldn't happen before October," Pederneiras added.

This raises a concern especially for the fans who are expecting the two fighters to go against each other on July 11 at the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas, as per Yahoo Sports. 

The main card of the event will air on pay-per-view on FOX Sports 1 and UFC Fight Pass. Aside from the main fight, another title match between welterweight champion Robbie Lawler vs. Rory MacDonald will also take place, said MMA Junkie.

It has also been noted that there has already been a lot of investments on the main fight and cancelling it could frustrate wrestling fans worldwide.

This is not the first time that Aldo's name has been linked to an injury which eventually led him to pull out from a fight. It has happened four times, according to Yahoo Sports and this was during UFC 125, UFC 149, UFC 153 and UFC 176.

If worse comes to worst, the UFC would be forced to find a replacement for Aldo to push through with the fight though sales are expected to get affected by this change. This will indeed hurt the UFC as MMA Junkie said that Aldo a high ranked fighter just like McGregor.

UFC president Dana White seemed to have responded to the concerns of the public for the fight with a recent tweet that read: "Relax everyone."