Jose Aldo is going to have a hard time putting the rib injury that forced him out of his much-anticipated title fight against Conor McGregor at UFC 189 behind him.
That's because "Notorious" will remind the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) featherweight champion that when the going got tough he ran. Unlike Conor himself, who declared on The MMA Hour that he chose to face his own injuries and adversity leading up to the fight.
As he sees it (via MMA Fighting), that's what make a fighter one of the true greats.
"I re-injured my leg. I couldn't walk, I could not walk. The was a period in camp where I couldn't even stand up straight. Two weeks before the fight was when I started throwing kicks again. I went traveling on the world tour, and I got injured training on the world tour with unfamiliar bodies in a competitive atmosphere. This game break you down enough. You must find comfort with your training partners. It's about making it to contest, keeping body fresh and mind sharp. The game breaks individuals, so there's no point in being in the gym and breaking yourself down. That's what I learned on that whole experience. Every damn day I woke up I said to myself, the true greats, they conquer adversity, true greats can slice through adversity no problem. Jose had his adversity and he ran from it. He might be able to come back from it, but he will never be able to leave the fact that he ran when I didn't."
Still, the Irishman says he hopes Jose has a good and injury-free camp ahead of their title unification fight, which is set to go down at UFC 194 on Dec. 11, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
"I wish Jose well. I wish him a safe camp. I hope they train smart, because they don't train smart over there. They get banged up and banged up and banged up and their body breaks. That's what you're seeing with Renan [Barao], that's why Renan had that second fight with TJ [Dillashaw], his preparation doesn't allow him to make adjustments."
Conor claimed the interim 145-pound title after knocking out Chad Mendes in the second round of the aforementioned UFC 189 pay-per-view (PPV) event.
He'll have the chance to become he undisputed champ when he finally faces off against Aldo in the main event of UFC 194 later this year.