Report: Jose Aldo broke his right foot in first round of featherweight title defense at UFC 163
There was a lot of speculation after Jose Aldo stopped Chan Sung Jung in the fourth round of their featherweight championship bout at HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Saturday about why Aldo threw so few kicks. Aldo is one of the best kickers in the sport, but Jung didn't take many kicks from Aldo.
Now, a report out of Brazil may explain why.
Aldo broke his right foot two minutes into the bout, his coach, Andre Pederneiras, told MMA Fighting's Guilherme Cruz.
He broke his foot two minutes into the fight. The first kick he threw landed on [Jung’s] knee.
If true, that makes Aldo's win all the more remarkable. He was able to beat a high-level opponent easily with a broken foot. At one point in the fight, when Jung tried a flying knee, Aldo stepped to the side, caught Jung took him down and pounded him on the ground.
When Jung dislocated his shoulder in the fourth round, Aldo finished the fight by kicking him in the shoulder. That, required him to land on his right foot in what had to have hurt tremendously.
Aldo also tried several flying knees and landed heavily on his right foot. He clearly has super human pain tolerance.
He also showed the versatility in his game. He was able to find a different way to win when his kicks, one of his greatest weapons, were taken away from him. He used a lot of wrestling in the bout, which was surprising at the time but understandable now.
Pederneiras told Cruz that Aldo wouldn't fight again this year. After that effort, he's earned the rest.
