It looks like Jose Aldo’s rib wasn’t fractured after all.
The featherweight champion was schedule to fight Conor McGregor at the main event at UFC 189, but was forced to withdraw from the bout after sustaining a rib injury in training.
Initial reports suggested that the Brazilian had fractured his rib, but the UFC released a statement shortly after the news broke claiming he had “only” suffered bruising. An x-ray of his rib cage then emerged online which supposedly proved that he had indeed fractured a rib.
Aldo's exams pic.twitter.com/Y6mee0gtPZ
— Ana Hissa (@AnaHissa) July 2, 2015
However, White explained at a pre-fight press conference in Las Vegas on Friday that the photo that was shared online was of an old injury the champion had sustained. He confirmed that Aldo had not broken a rib and several doctors diagnosed the injury as a bruised rib and damaged cartilage.
White: Aldo’s broken rib MRI showed an old injury. The new injury was the bruised rib and damaged cartilage. “He did not have a broken rib."
— MMA Fighting (@MMAFighting) July 10, 2015
White also said it wasn’t just UFC doctors that diagnosed the Aldo bruised rib. “It was three different doctors."
— MMA Fighting (@MMAFighting) July 10, 2015
UPDATE: Rickson Moraes, the Brazilian doctor that told Aldo his ribs were broken, has defended that diagnosis.
He told MMA Fighting, ‘Aldo has an occult rib fracture and the MRI shows that, but I believe the UFC only got the x-ray exams at first.
‘I examined Aldo again when the UFC had doubts,’ Dr. Moraes added. ‘He has an acute injury, and you can have it exactly where you had injuries before. That’s what happened. He had an injury there before, and fractured a rib this time.