Jose Aldo will be out of action for at least the rest of 2013 after breaking his foot during his UFC 163 victory over Chan Sung Jung.
According to a report from MMAFighting.com’s Guilherme Cruz, X-ray results confirmed that the UFC featherweight champion fractured his foot in his title defense bout Saturday night in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Aldo’s head coach, Andre Pederneiras, said, “He broke his foot two minutes into the fight. The first kick he threw landed on (Jung’s) knee…[His return] is up to the doctors now.”
The report also said that, “Aldo isn’t expected to fight again this year,” though a specific timetable is still uncertain pending discussions with doctors.
The biggest threat to Aldo’s UFC title reign is his own body. The 26-year-old champ (23-1) hasn’t lost in seven years, but several of his fights have gone by the boards after he got hurt.
In 2010, Aldo pulled out of his first UFC title defense at UFC 125 with a neck injury. His scheduled opponent, Josh Grispi, instead fought Dustin Poirier.
Before UFC 149 in July, an Aldo leg injury forced the UFC to reschedule his bout with Erik Koch to UFC 153 in the fall. His opponent for the match was later changed to Frankie Edgar. However, an injury Aldo sustained after being involved in a motorcycle collision later forced the UFC to scrap the bout altogether.
One of the top pan-divisional fighters in the sport, Aldo has only competed five times in the nearly three years since he joined the UFC. He has held the featherweight belt for the duration of that tenure, going 5-0 with three decision wins and two knockouts.
At UFC 163, Aldo defeated “The Korean Zombie” Jung by TKO, but was assisted in the process when Jung suffered a separated shoulder after punching Aldo in the fourth round.
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