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Heavy MMA has reported that Jose Aldo Jr. has pulled out of his fight against Chad Mendes due to a currently unnamed injury.
According to the report, the injury is not a serious one, and could see Aldo returning to the cage as early as mid-September.
Aldo vs. Mendes had originally been tabbed for UFC 133 in Philadelphia, but there had been many recent conversations about it being pushed back to UFC 134, which is being held in Aldo's native country of Brazil.
UPDATE:
MMA Junkie spoke with Aldo's manager, Ed Soares, who had the following to say about the injury:
"Jose is just resting right now and rehabbing a few small lingering injuries," Soares told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). "He can't even resume training until May 30, so he's just working on getting back to 100 percent."
Whether it's Chad Mendes or any other top contender, Jose is competing against the very best opponents in the world, and he wants ample time to prepare," Soares said. "When you're the champion, everyone is gunning for you, and it's important to be 100 percent."
Aldo's original opponent, is apparently not interested in waiting around for Jose to heal. His manager also spoke to MMA Junkie:
"Chad is looking to fight Aug. 6, for sure," Mendes' manager, Mike Roberts, told MMAjunkie.com. ""We're not going to wait for Jose Aldo. Chad wants to fight. If Aldo can't fight, Chad will move on and fight somebody else."
Roberts also confirmed that bout agreements were never distributed for the matchup. However, Roberts said he's not interested in waiting around to see how Aldo's recovery progresses. Instead, he's looking to fight in Philadelphia.
"We never received a bout agreement," Roberts said. "We were hoping to fight him then, but it doesn't appear that that's going to happen."
So with the change in plans, just who does Robert believe Mendes will fight at UFC 133?
"The toughest guy they can find," Roberts said.
It's currently unclear who Chad Mendes' new opponent will be. We will keep you posted.