The Doggy Bag: The Injury Edition

---

What impact do you think Jose Aldo's injury is going to have? I saw that Erik Koch said he would wait for him. Do you think the UFC will still do Aldo-Koch or are we going to get a new contender? What if Hatsu Hioki beats Ricardo Lamas? I am also curious if you think that injuries are going to derail Aldo at some point. He already had the back issues. He is still so young, but where his style is so explosive, I wonder if he won't get slowed down in a division full of athletic youngsters. -- Adam from Victoria

TJ De Santis, Sherdog Radio Network program director: Nothing is guaranteed in life, especially UFC main events.

Aldo is on the shelf again, and Koch says he is willing to wait. Koch should know better than anyone that waiting is a smart idea. After all, his teammate, Anthony Pettis, didn't wait for his promised title shot, and he is on the outside looking in. Koch can sit back and wait, but, as you implied, there are other variables that will determine if the fight will happen in a timely manner. I enjoy Koch as much as the next guy. However, if Hioki proves to be victorious on Friday, I think I'd rather see him get a title shot before Koch.

Jose Aldo is quickly becoming a fighter who is known as injury-prone. In MMA, there are a few fighters who tend to be more fragile than their peers. Mike Swick hasn't competed in more than two years. In a 24-month period, you can assume that Swick has lost out on three to six fights. His teammate, Josh Thomson, might be MMA's Mr. Glass.

Rich Franklin is another fighter who tends to be brittle, yet, ironically, he is the consummate company man who takes fights on short notice and fills the voids left by disabled fighters. Still, when was the last time we saw Franklin without a black eye? It seems every time the Ohio native competes he walks away with a broken hand or wrecked face.

What is amazing about Aldo, though, is his ability to continue fighting at a high level while coming off of injury after injury. Common sense dictates that he can't keep up like this forever. There isn't much you can do for Aldo other than hope something changes, whether it's smarter training techniques or just better fortune. As of now, the Brazilian's legacy is still being written. However, the story in progress is that he is simply a talented champion that is very prone to injury. We might never get a rewrite on that.

Continue Reading » Page Four: The Truth About 'The Truth' on Fox