Jose Aldo Injury Taps Chad Mendes for Conor McGregor Next Fight, UFC 189: Featherweigt Title

Earlier this week, we learned that current UFC Featherweight champion Jose Aldo had to back out of UFC 189, his title match with "The Notorious" Conor McGregor, which was set for July 11, 2015, due to a recently discovered injury. Aldo has since provided an official statement about backing out and photo evidence of his fractured rib. Fighter Chad Mendes has been called up to replace Aldo in this next fight, making this bought an interim title match. As you can imagine, McGregor has already started talking trash about Mendes. Read more on this news below!

You can check out more sports news coverage from MStars News right here!

Fans of the fighter knew that Aldo suffered his rib injury at least a month ago, but UFC announced in a press release stating that the McGregor fight would still be held. This week, however, Aldo and the UFC have decided to play it safe and give the champion time to heal.

"The decision was taken in respect of fans and the UFC, who now consider me the best fighter pound-for-pound in the world," Aldo said, according to Fox Sports. "I could not fight without having 100 percent of my physical condition. Many people told me to fight anyway, due to the money that I could win, but I wouldn't sell myself, no matter what it may be."

You can check out some x-rays of Aldo's rib injury right here!

Meanwhile, Mendes got the call-up to replace Aldo, which the 30-year-old fighter has described as a dream come true.

"This is something that is so awesome to me right now. So listening to a guy like Conor hype this fight up, he's going to be running his mouth and talking all kinds of trash and that's something I'm expecting; it's no big surprise. It's what got him here today. It's what made him go from a no-name to in a couple years being a superstar," Chad Mendes said, according to Fox Sports. "Let him say whatever the hell he wants. I'm going to sit there and smile because I know in my mind I'm going to get in there and whoop this dude's ass. This is a huge payday for me and it's all because of his mouth so let's get after it."

Yes, McGregor has already started the trash talk. Check out what the 26-year-old MMA fighter had to say about Aldo's injury and his new opponent in this recent interview (via UPROXX):

Let us know what you think of this news in the comments section below!