There appears to be conflicting reports regarding the severity of UFC Featherweight Champion Jose Aldo’s injury.
Andre Pederneiras, Aldo’s head coach at Team Nova Uniao, Brazilian doctors are saying Aldo has fractured ribs, while America doctors say they are not broken.
“There’s medical report here and an evaluation there. I’m not a doctor to say which one is correct,” said Pederneiras. “I know he’s injured and this rib injury is painful. He’s using anti-inflammatory and we will wait to see if he gets better. The fight is on, and we’ll check him again next week.”
“We will only have this answer next week,” he continued. “He’s under treatment. He did an injection and is under a PRP (platelet-rich plasma) treatment, and is waiting to get better. They take his blood, use only the good plasma, and inject it on the injury. The fight is 15 days away. Doctors say he will get better day after day. We can’t say how he will feel 15 days from now.”
Pederneiras continued, “I think Aldo is so superior it won’t make the difference. If he goes to the fight, he will win. I won’t put him in a situation that one punch can end the fight.”
“We don’t know who leaked this information. We didn’t leak it. We took him to the hospital and a lot of people saw him there. I told the matchmaker he was injured and under treatment, but it was on the media already. We believe someone in the hospital leaked this information to the media.”
If Aldo is unable to fight, UFC has announced that Chad Mendes will step in and fight Conor McGregor for an interim UFC Featherweight Championship, an idea that Pederneiras disagrees with.
“The UFC is a private company and they make the decision that is better for the company,” he said. “Aldo fought in October, nine months ago. The majority of the champions who didn’t fight for any reason were out longer and they didn’t create an interim title. I don’t think it’s cool, but it’s a private company.”
UFC 189: Aldo vs. McGregor is scheduled for Saturday, July 11, 2015 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
