The UFC has a golden ticket and his name is Conor McGregor.

Following the news that the reigning UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo has fractured his ribs during a sparring session, putting his UFC 189 title fight against McGregor in jeopardy, rumors have run rampant over whether the UFC will pull their Irish superstar from the card or simply find a replacement for the July 11 card.

The logical sense would be to reschedule the highly anticipate matchup between Aldo and McGregor for the UFC 191 card in September, which is set to take place in Las Vegas on Sept. 5. After all, according to UFC President Dana White, the organization has poured more money into promoting UFC 189, specifically Aldo and McGregor, than any other event in UFC history.

But this has not stopped several of the UFC’s 145-pounders from throwing their name into the hat for potential replacements against the the brash Irishman.

The man that would make the most sense to step up would most certainly be former lightweight champion Frankie Edgar, who sits at number one on the UFC’s featherweight ranking is currently riding a four fight winning streak.

However, not far behind him sits Max Holloway who is riding a career high six fight win streak, five of which ended in stoppage.

Even UFC lightweight Joseph Duffey, who scored a first round submission win over McGregor back in 2010 under the Cage Warriors banner has shown interest in a potential rematch. He is currently the last man to defeat McGregor

While they may be out of the running both Dennis Bermudez, who is coming off a first round submission loss, and Jeremy Stephens, who is riding a two fight losing streak, have pushed hard for the replacement position.

Not surprisingly, former WEC featherweight kingpin turned bantamweight contender Urijah Faber, who is known to fight anyone at anytime, has thrown his added his name to the mix.

UFC 189 is set to take place on July 11 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. If both Aldo and McGregor are indeed pulled from the card, the co-main event between reigning UFC welterweight champion Robbie Lawler and Rory MacDonald is expected to be promoted to headlining bout.

About The Author

News Manager

José began his career as a mixed martial arts journalist while still enrolled at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communications at Arizona State University. Since graduating in May 2013, he has attended dozens of high profile UFC fight cards as a credentialed member of the media, providing live cage side coverage through his articles and videos. His work has appeared on UFC.com, ArizonaSports.com and AZCentral. He is also currently one of the main contributors on Power MMA Show at Arizona Sports 98.7 FM, one of the first all MMA radio shows on a major radio station.