Aldo to Train Tuesday to Help Decide if He Can Fight McGregor at UFC 189

Chad Mendes is ready and willing to step in to face Conor McGregor in the main event of “UFC 189” if Jose Aldo is not medically cleared to compete. As of right now, Aldo is still expected to defend his UFC Featherweight Championship. However, we could be finding out if he will be able to fight sooner rather than later.

Aldo will be returning to training tomorrow for the first time since suffering his rib injury last Tuesday, according to his training partner Jonas Bilharinho. Bilharinho told the MMA Hour, “I think he will probably fight. And I hope so. I will be with him on Tuesday to see what he’s capable of doing during training or not, but my opinion right now is that he’s going to fight. I’m going to be optimistic about it because Aldo wants this fight so bad. I think this fight will probably happen.”

Bilharinho claims that if Aldo decides to fight, pain will not be a factor once the clock starts ticking. “He’s very strong mentally. Once he decides to fight, the pain won’t be a problem,” he said. “I know he can beat Conor. He totally can beat Conor.

Aldo hasn’t seen his training partner since last Thursday, but apparently the champion was so hurt that he couldn’t walk right. “He was walking slowly to not feel the pain on the ribs,” Bilharinho said. “It’s disturbing. You can’t punch, you can’t move, you can’t breathe, but the pain was still fresh. I don’t know right now. It’s probably better. If the pain got worse, he will probably don’t fight. But I think the fight is going to happen. I don’t think it will get any worse.”

Do you think Jose Aldo defend the belt at UFC 189? Share your thoughts in the comment section below!

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