Jose Aldo is gonna throw the fight – an MMA conspiracy theory (REVISED)

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Okay, so Jose Aldo has a time machine.  He went to the future and saw that he would be defeated so badly by McGregor that he would never be able to fight again, so he's decided to bail on this fight.  In the revised timeline, Aldo will still lose his belt to McGregor, but by a less devastation KO.  Stay tuned.

Jose Aldo wants two things – money, and the UFC fame that has so far eluded him.

The route to both of these goals is the same: Connor McGregor.

So his camp hatches a plan. Fake an injury. Make it sound really serious... say, something that puts him at a big disadvantage against McGregor, like a vulnerable rib. A target for McGregor’s knees and kicks.

Then when it comes time to check in with a UFC doctor, surprise surprise, the broken rib is actually just bruised. That’s fake-able, right? He could even have had people punch him enough to give him legitimate bruising.

Oh well, so the local doctors misdiagnosed it. Not broken. What a relief. What a complete surprise. Yes, of course Aldo is still stoked to fight. We’ll see you in the octagon.

Chad Mendes is lined up as an eleventh-hour replacement, but Aldo won’t need to sub anyone in. He’s fine. And now he’s established a solid gold excuse for losing. And he’s going to lose, because he’s going to throw the fight.

If Aldo is dethroned with a big asterisk, he continues the narrative. If anything, being willing to fight with such an injury, at least a spectre of a broken rib, means he’s tough and unwilling to back down. His brand improves. The outcry for an immediate rematch will be deafening.

Second time around, Aldo lets everything go. McGregor finally learns what the top rung is really like. The doubled earnings are just the beginning. If everything goes as planned, Aldo will be the UFC’s biggest star.

Or so he hopes.