We could have had the news by this evening.
The plan was for Jose Aldo to hit the gym today for the first time since his rib injury and suss out how he was holding up before deciding on whether or not he could defend his featherweight title at UFC 189.
But the kibosh was soon put on that as D-Day was pushed back to Friday according to Brazilian MMA reporter Guilherme Cruz.
I’m told Jose Aldo will not train today. Official call apparently pushed back to Friday.
— Guilherme Cruz (@guicruzzz) June 30, 2015
That means that Conor McGregor will have just eight days to formulate a definitive gameplan for either Aldo or the contingency plan known as Chad Mendes.
While that seems like ludicrously short notice, it’s a hell of a lot better than the scenario that was originally being reported in which the McGregor wouldn’t learn of his opponent until the day of the UFC 189 weigh-ins but that never seemed like a genuine possibility.
