Jose Aldo's Wife Says UFC President Dana White Tried To Get Aldo To Fight While Hurt, UFC Embedded

UFC 194 is just a few days away, and the show's main event of Jose Aldo vs. Conor McGregor is one of the most highly anticipated fights in MMA history. The two were set to do battle earlier this summer at UFC 189, but an injured rib kept Aldo from competing.

According to an interview from Aldo's wife Vivianne Pereira gave to Combate (and translated by MMAFighting), that fight would have went on regardless if UFC President Dana White had his say about things.

"Dana calling, talking about numbers," she said. "'It's millions of dollars that you're losing. You have to fight. You've never made this in your life'. (Jose) trying everything, doing everything. They didn't want to announce it because who else would they put in the fight? They spent millions on the fight. How would they say he broke his rib? They didn't want to admit they held it back, threw that on us, and we were saying it was broken."

See Also: Dana White Reveals Initial Reaction To Jose Aldo Injury

Aldo ended up being pulled from the fight in favor of Chad Mendes, who took on Conor McGregor in a valiant losing effort for the interim UFC Featherweight Championship. The UFC vehemently denied Pereira's claims in a statement issued to MMAFigthing.

"Jose's health and safety were always a priority and we worked closely with he and his team to ensure that he had access to the best medical care and consultation after sustaining the injury. We respect and understand that he could not proceed with the fight at UFC 189 due to the injury. Both fighters have now arrived in Las Vegas for this historic event, and we're excited that UFC 194 is just days away," the UFC official told MMA Fighting.

Wrestling Inc. will have full, live coverage of UFC 194 this Saturday, including a live post-show video podcast. You can also check out episode 1 of UFC 194 Embedded above.

Comments