Writer/fighter details Aldo dilema
Elias Cepeda fights and writes, and details the dilema Jose Aldo faces – rest and be less sharp, or train and risk hurting more fight night than he does now.
There has been very much writing about UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo’s rib, but very little of it has come from people who have popped a rib in training, and understand how debilitating it is.
Elias Cepeda is an exception. He fights and writes, here for FOX Sports.
Damaged rib cartilage can become so bad that it pulls at bones and leads to them breaking. So, if Aldo continues to do what he needs to in training to make sure he makes weight and is on point to fight an opponent as good as McGregor, he could very well end up in worse shape on fight night than he is now.
Resting his body to try and be as healthy as possible on fight night risks sharpness on fight night. A fighter like Aldo is simply rolling the dice, one way or another.
The thing about one’s rib cage is that it is engaged with almost any type of movement, including simply breathing.
There’s a good chance that any and all types of exercise produce excruciating pain for Aldo, right now. Just because a rib isn’t fractured, doesn’t mean that Aldo is anywhere near healthy, right now, or that he can get there by UFC 189.
With bruised rib bones and torn rib cartilage, deep breaths will be painful for the champion, and could be for weeks. The first time I suffered bruised ribs, I was just a child and so I wasn’t well-suited to deal with the pain.
The next times I suffered rib injuries (including torn cartilage, bone bruises, and, on another occasion, a fractured rib) I was an adult and had fought for years. Still, there was just no real, functional dealing with the pain.
I couldn’t sleep on my stomach for months, without pain, pressure, and it impeding my ability to breathe. Lifting my legs affected my ribs, turning my body, did, as did walking, jogging, bending over, bouncing, or reaching my arms above my shoulders.
With my lifestyle, I was able to rest, type, and do a whole lot of nothing. Jose Aldo is preparing for the biggest fight of his life with those types of symptoms and that type of pain.
Good luck, champ.
I’m excited to see Aldo fight July 11 in Las Vegas, and he’s earned the right to decide to gut through injuries and make a living. But I know too well that there’s no way he’ll be anywhere near right on fight night.