A day has passed by and for the time being, Jose Aldo is still scheduled to fight Conor McGregor at UFC 189. That’s the only bit of good news mustered up in that there’s no new news on the status of the highly anticipated main event. However, according to Ariel Helwani on UFC Tonight, there are options the UFC has in mind should the main event fall through due to Aldo’s rib injury.
1.) Featherweight fight vs. Frankie Edgar or Chad Mendes.
2.) Lightweight fight vs. Nate Diaz
Obviously Edgar and Mendes are absolutely interested in stepping up on short notice with the chance of snatching away McGregor’s title shot, but the Diaz option is something both McGregor’s camp and Nate himself are interested in, per Helwani’s report.
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If the UFC is interested in protecting Aldo vs. McGregor at all costs, then McGregor probably won’t face either Edgar or Mendes but instead do the one-off at 155 lbs against a beatable opponent who fans are familiar with. While Diaz is 1-3 in his last 4 (and missed weight in his loss to Rafael dos Anjos), it’s a fun bout that in no way should disqualify McGregor from fighting Aldo even if he loses. It’d certainly placate Irish fans who shelled out oodles of cash to travel to Vegas to see their countryman do battle against the champion.
Of course, that’s just me being very speculative. Aldo vs. McGregor is currently on for July 11th, and we’ll surely know by the end of this week if it will remain that way.
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