Jose Aldo’s Broken Foot Will Likely Keep Him Sidelined Until 2014


(Could be worse, I guess. / Photo by Esther Lin for MMAFighting.)

Shortly after Jose Aldo‘s latest triumph at UFC 163, the UFC featherweight champ was hit with a harsh dose of reality. X-rays have confirmed that Aldo did indeed break his right foot during his successful title defense against Chan Sung Jung, and he isn’t expected to fight again this year.

As Aldo explained following the event, the injury happened midway through the first round, when Jung checked an attempted leg-kick, and Aldo’s foot cracked against the Korean Zombie’s knee. Check out the photo above (or any of these) to see the balloon-like swelling that Aldo was dealing with for four rounds, before he ended the fight by TKO with a little help from Jung’s own gnarly shoulder-dislocation.

Injuries have not been Aldo’s friend during his reign as the UFC’s inaugural featherweight champion. Just days after receiving his belt following the WEC’s merger with the UFC, Aldo withdrew from his first UFC title defense against Josh Grispi due to a neck injury. The following year, another injury postponed Aldo’s fight against Chad Mendes. And last year, Aldo had to pull out of two scheduled title defenses, first against Erik Koch, then against Frankie Edgar.

Aldo’s inactivity has created a logjam of 145-pound contenders waiting for their shot at the title. Unfortunately, they’ll all have to wait a little longer.


(Could be worse, I guess. / Photo by Esther Lin for MMAFighting.)

Shortly after Jose Aldo‘s latest triumph at UFC 163, the UFC featherweight champ was hit with a harsh dose of reality. X-rays have confirmed that Aldo did indeed break his right foot during his successful title defense against Chan Sung Jung, and he isn’t expected to fight again this year.

As Aldo explained following the event, the injury happened midway through the first round, when Jung checked an attempted leg-kick, and Aldo’s foot cracked against the Korean Zombie’s knee. Check out the photo above (or any of these) to see the balloon-like swelling that Aldo was dealing with for four rounds, before he ended the fight by TKO with a little help from Jung’s own gnarly shoulder-dislocation.

Injuries have not been Aldo’s friend during his reign as the UFC’s inaugural featherweight champion. Just days after receiving his belt following the WEC’s merger with the UFC, Aldo withdrew from his first UFC title defense against Josh Grispi due to a neck injury. The following year, another injury postponed Aldo’s fight against Chad Mendes. And last year, Aldo had to pull out of two scheduled title defenses, first against Erik Koch, then against Frankie Edgar.

Aldo’s inactivity has created a logjam of 145-pound contenders waiting for their shot at the title. Unfortunately, they’ll all have to wait a little longer.