During his featherweight title defense at UFC 129, Jose Aldo did not appear to be himself against his opponent, Mark Hominick. While he did successfully defend his title, there was something slightly off about the champion on this night, as he looked relatively fatigued during the final round of the bout.
His head trainer at Nova Uniao, Andre Pederneiras, told Sherdog.com that the Brazilian was on antibiotics for an infection he received just days prior to the event.
“He suffered a cut on his toe [on April 23] and it got infected with bacteria,” Pederneiras said.
“He went through heavy medical treatment with antibiotics and anti-inflammatory pills from Sunday to Tuesday. He took the heavy dosage so that he wouldn’t have to take more drugs closer to the fight.”
The rumors surrounding his suspected illness only grew following his fight with Hominick, when his cornerman Marion Sandro was seen criticizing Aldo after he complained about wanting to take more antibiotics.
“Antibiotics wouldn’t have helped at all,” Sandro told Aldo. “You’re the champion, kid. F–k the antibiotics. Everything is OK. You fought well, smooth and composed.”
Aldo is likely to fight much sooner following his fourth title defense, as it is expected he will square off against unbeaten featherweight Chad Mendes at UFC 133. Although another challenger could emerge at UFC 131 when Kenny Florian will make his featherweight debut against Aldo’s teammate Diego Nunes.
Pederneiras said he is aware of the possibility that both Aldo and Nunes might have to fight each other, but the Nova Uniao trainer said their potential bout is not any of his concern.
“I think it will be against Chad Mendes,” Pederneiras says of Aldo’s future opponent.
“But Diego and everyone from Nova União knows that if they have to fight against each other, they will. I just don’t know how we would manage it, but they know they’re fighters and it’s their job. If the boss orders it, we’ll work on that situation. They’ll fight against whoever they’re matched with.”
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In a classic fight before 55,000 fans at 
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