The MMA world received a bombshell of bad news this morning (Tues., February 23, 2016) when a broken foot forced lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos out of his awaited UFC 196 showdown with featherweight champion Conor McGregor, prompting a rush to find a replacement opponent for the rapidly approaching March 5 event from Las Vegas.
There was a windfall of top-ranked contenders who not surprisingly jumped on the opportunity quickly, with lightweights Anthony Pettis, Donald Cerrone, and Nate Diaz all throwing their names into the hat as potential replacements. Two fighters who aren’t going to be replacing ‘RDA,’ however, are McGregor’s featherweight counterparts Jose Aldo and Frankie Edgar.
Longtime former champion Aldo, who was infamously knocked out by McGregor in a mere 13 seconds at UFC 194 after pulling out of their original match-up at UFC 189 in July 2015, is apparently not in shape to fight McGregor on short notice and is not a viable replacement. His Nova Uniao head coach Andre Pederneiras told Brazilian outlet Combate that it just wouldn’t happen:
“Dana (White) called me, telling what happened and asking if Aldo was in shape to fight. I said he wasn’t and that there wasn’t enough time, and unfortunately he wouldn’t be able to fight next week.”
That’s a far cry from Aldo’s Instagram post in January, where he said the only fight he would accept outside of a title shot was a rematch with McGregor, and he would take it ‘anytime, anywhere’:
“For everything I have done, everything I have accepted and mostly how the fight ended, I will not accept any other fight other than a title shot. My only exception would be fighting (McGregor), at any time, anywhere, and once that he is afraid and knows that I’m gonna win… Doesn’t have to be title fight against him. Keep my belt, but I wanna whoop (your) ass anywhere.”
UFC 196 will go down in only 11 days, so it’s not difficult to understand why Aldo was not in fight shape without a bout scheduled. However, the former champion has received a ton of criticism for his inactivity and frequent injury withdrawals over the past few years, and this would undoubtedly have been a huge boost back up to his standing as a fighter, both with his employer and fans.
Yet he’s not going to take advantage of the opportunity, and UFC President Dana White is understandably not happy with the tenuous situation. Read on to the next page to find out what other developments are arising in this mix-up….
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