The American Gangster has spoken out against Jose Aldo over his handling of the rib injury forced him to pull out of UFC 189.
Conor McGregor will take on Chad Mendes this weekend for the interim featherweight strap. While it’s an intriguing match-up and technically still a title fight, it isn’t really the bout that everyone had hoped to see at UFC 189.
A fractured rib sustained by champion Jose Aldo forced him out of his title fight with the Notorious. and meant that fans would have to make do with a pretty damn good alternative main event.
However, former middleweight contender Chael Sonnen reckons that Aldo should not have withdraw from the bout. He explained on the MMA Hour that if he was in that situation, not only would he have fought, no one would have found out about his injury in the first place.
“I would never come in with an excuse. If I had a broken rib, you damn sure would never know about it.”
“If one of my teammates came out and did an interview about how he broke my rib, he’s no longer my teammate. It’s a simple as that.”
Sonnen remarked that if Aldo had fought and beaten McGregor, it would have only added to his legacy as a fighter.
“I would never discredit the sport or my opponent by reading my injury list before or after the fight. I’ve always thought it’s a very underhanded thing to do and it’s a very cowardly thing to do, to come out and say I’m hurt, particularly if you win a fight. Your message is very clear. You’re saying, I beat you, and had I been healthy, I would’ve beaten you even easier.”
“So as far as legacy goes, the one thing that I’m proud of was that I would always compete. I was looking to compete. I was never a bully, I would take on everybody at anytime.”
“Whether that was the No. 1 guy in the world or whether that was the No. 100 guy in the world, it didn’t make any bit of different. If somebody wanted to fight, I would show up and fight.”
Hat-tip to Bloody Elbow
