Conor McGregor doesn't want to hear about a rib injury.
After news of Jose Aldo's ailment broke during the week, there were immediate fears that the UFC 189 superfight might be cancelled. It now appears that the Brazilian will be able to fight, although we won't know for certain until right before the bout, and featherweight contender Chad Mendes is on standby as a replacement.
In McGregor's medical opinion, Aldo needs to just persevere and get on with it... although the Dubliner used considerably stronger terms.
“It turns out it’s just a bruised rib,” McGregor
said to MMAJunkie. “Little bit of ice, little bit of ibuprofen, little bit of ‘toughen the f-ck up,’ and we should get on with the fight.”
Many have suggested that even a bruised rib will leave Aldo with a clear point of weakness that the Dubliner can exploit but McGregor rejected the notion that he will go out to target the injured rib.
“I’m going to go for the chin; I want to knock him out.
“He doesn’t need to worry about his ribs, and I’m not going to go out and purposely target an area. If he shows up and fights, which he should do, we’ll fight as scheduled.
“I’m not going to start diving at things. I’m just going to fight my fight. It’s the chin I am hunting.”
While revealing that he still doesn't know if Aldo will make the fight on July 11, McGregor also talked about the potential options that were put forward to him in the event that the Brazilian's withdraws, with the possibility of him moving up a weight class being discussed.
“As long as I am fit and I am healthy, I feel it’s only right that I show up and fight, so 155 [lbs] was an option because the Aldo fight was looking to be rescheduled until September. But now, now I don’t know. I don’t give a f-ck really. I don’t care. I’ll be there July 10 at 145 pounds, and on July 11, I will have a gold belt wrapped around my waist. So everything else means nothing to me.”
