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UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo intends to defend his title against Conor McGregor on July 11 despite suffering a bruised rib and cartilage earlier this week.The UFC released a statement addressing the situation on Wednesday, one day after Brazilian news source Combate reported Aldo (25-1) had suffered a fractured rib while training in Rio de Janeiro. According to UFC officials, the 28-year-old champion was re-examined on Wednesday. It was determined the injury was not a fractured rib, clearing the way for Aldo to make his eighth title defense against McGregor (17-2) at UFC 189 in Las Vegas.
"In light of recent reports regarding the status of UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo, UFC has received official medical confirmation from several doctors that Aldo did not suffer a broken rib," the statement read. "Following a review of the scans, it has been determined that the champion suffered a bone bruise to his rib and cartilage injury during training.”
However his assignment just got exponentially harder, while most fighters begin to scale back their workouts considerably about a week or so from fight night, it would seem that the Brazilian won't be able to do much of anything from this point forward if he wants to heal effectively. However if, Aldo is unable to regain full form or suffers another setback preparing for "Notorious" ahead of showtime, UFC has tapped Chad Mendes to serve as its "contingency plan”.
So regardless of what happens to Aldo, McGregor will be fighting for a belt, whether the real one or the interim. But for the time being, a collective sigh of relief can be had. UFC 189's main event is still Jose Aldo vs. Conor McGregor.
