It all started with a tweet.
https://twitter.com/AnaHissa/status/613420164931948544
Fight fans across the globe were left languishing in the throes of despair after established Brazilian reporter Ana Hissa's tweet started a frenzy on social media.
Suddenly, Jose Aldo vs Conor McGregor, a fight that had been built up to be one of biggest events in the UFC's calendar, had been thrown into jeopardy.
All the highly stylised
promos, the
expensive World Tour and every other costly measure the UFC had taken to generate hype for this fight became cruel monuments to "what could have been".
https://twitter.com/danawhite/status/613456440175398912
The MMA community found it extremely difficult to heed Uncle Dana's advice as reports from within Aldo's camp began to emerge of how the champion had been
reduced to tears after allegedly breaking his rib during a sparring mishap.
Then came the
naming of the culprit, who was said to be "devastated" that he had potentially forced Aldo out of the biggest fight of his career.
That the likes of Frankie Edgar, Urijah Faber and even Joseph Duffy revealed their willingness to step in for the injured champion only served to intensify the worry that a replacement may be required.
However, Dana White seemed untroubled by the whole ordeal.
https://twitter.com/danawhite/status/613778029899157504
His eagerness to be seen to be calmness personified proved to be warranted when he gleefully confirmed in the early hours of Thursday morning that the reports were exaggerated, Aldo had merely bruised his rib and will throw down with the Notorious on July 11 as planned.
Phew! MMA fans breathed a collective sigh of relief, but what had transpired over the past 48 hours had raised a lot of questions. Namely, how did information that was potentially so damaging to Aldo securing his biggest payday to date leak from his camp?
There is the argument that Aldo's camp intentionally brought the news into the public eye in order to engage in mind games with McGregor.
The Dubliner had been preparing for Aldo for the entirety of his camp, so the possibility of having to fight a late replacement like Chad Mendes, a vastly different fighter, would give McGregor's team something extra to ponder. At least Aldo's team might have hoped.
The fact that the UFC have Mendes on standby should anything happen to Aldo, leaves a lingering threat of a change in the headline bout.
Another theory is that Aldo has indeed fractured his rib, but has decided to fight through it for the sake of his bank balance, while the more cynical, tin-foil hat brigade believe that the whole thing was orchestrated by the promotion in order to heap on the hype.
The far more likely answer, as is often the case, is the simplest one. It transpired exactly as it appeared to transpire. The truth about Aldo's injury got lost after a false report gathered steam on social media.
Either way, it has added another dimension to the discussions about the fight and has, more importantly, boosted the conversation of the event.
The buzz on social media is that the fate of Aldo's involvement in the fight could come down to the Nevada State Athletic Commission, who reportedly won't make the final call on his fitness until the weigh-ins the night before the fight.
With high drama such as this, the gaze of the world of combat sport will be focused squarely on what happens in Vegas in two weeks.
You'd be forgiven for forgetting that Lyoto Machida and Yoel Romero are headlining a card this weekend.
