UFC 189's Jose Aldo was injured by spinning back kick, says 'sad' sparring partner

It's no hyperbole to say that Jose Aldo vs. Conor McGregor was due to be the biggest and most anticipated featherweight fight MMA has ever seen. Unfortunately, the UFC 189 main event is in serious jeopardy after it was revealed yesterday that the reigning champion Aldo suffered a training injury. MMA Fighting's Guilherme Cruz spoke to Alcides Nunes, the man who sparred with Aldo and caused the rib fracture, about the incident at Nova Uniao:

"I threw a kick but slipped with all the sweat on the mat, and ended up hitting his rib," Nunes told MMAFighting.com. "I was mimicking McGregor's unorthodox style, things he does in the fight. I'm also left-handed, my style is similar to his, so that's why they asked me to be part of his camp, but I ended up slipping and causing this injury."

While Aldo continued to train until the end of the round, he was rushed to the hospital once he stopped. Nunes, a 5-0 professional lightweight who is just 3 years into his career, expressed his sadness over potentially derailing Aldo vs. McGregor

"I'm still sad about all this," he said. "As a fan and an athlete, I know this is devastating. I'm really sad. Aldo was in shape and prepared for this fight."

Nova Uniao coach Andre Pederneiras is expected to meet with Aldo's doctors today to decide where they go from here. For now, it's looking grim as far as his ability to fight on July 11th, but as of now, he's not officially been removed from the event.