Mendes will at least give the 26-year-old Irish phenom a taste of what competition is like at the elite levels of the UFC 145-pound division.
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Mendes has been vocal about his desire to fight McGregor, and now he will finally get to do so. But even though their fight is officially considered an interim title bout, McGregor dismisses that notion. Should the belt be considered the real deal or is it a meaningless belt?
“It’s been nuts. Right when that news broke, I started to get phone calls from everyone, texts from everyone”.
“As far as I’m concerned, this is the real title that’s on the line”. That why I can’t agree with UFC’s decision to have an interim champion in my division citing the five opportunities that I couldn’t defend my belt. I’ve said it before. The Octagon is my kingdom and there’s place for only one king, which is me.
One of the UFC’s most popular fighters says he’s not interest in headlining UFC 193 in Melbourne in November. It doesn’t matter whether it’s Jose or Chad.
Jose Aldo InstagramJose Aldo training for his title fight against McGregor.
When asked by Conan about the adage of not having sex before a fight, McGregor laughed and said that is “definitely a superstition I abide by”. He was, however, cleared by doctors to fight before pulling out. That’s why he gets exhausted. But in boxing, on Mayweather’s turf, McGregor would be down for the challenge – and, of course, the payday. Although he also has elite level Brazilian jiu-jitsu, he’s most effective on the feet.
Some suggest Mendes, a ex- All-American wrestler at Cal Poly-SLO, will be a tougher opponent. “And for me, you don’t f*cking do that”. He added: “I am very confident that if we exchange in any grappling sequence I have the ability to dominate him”.
The pair, both boasting 17-2 records, begin an abbreviated promotional campaign in earnest later today on a conference call in which Breitbart Sports has been invited to participate. I’ve set-up the game plan, gone over it with coaches, teammates. White said earlier Tuesday that the UFC had spent $10 million promoting and marketing Aldo vs. McGregor. “My approach will win the fight”.
Aldo’s camp moved quickly to quash speculation he would have to pull out, however he has failed to recover in time, meaning Dubliner McGregor will take on Mendes, twice beaten by Aldo, instead.
During his meteoric rise to UFC superstardom, Conor McGregor has faced one consistent criticism: That his opponents have been handpicked to showcase all of his strengths and none of his weaknesses. “This is the McGregor show”, he said. Is McGregor as good as his believers profess him to be? [Next] it’s gonna be the interim question. Ex- light heavyweight champion Jon Jones shutdown a UFC event because of his refusal to take a fight under similar circumstances.
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“It’s his (Aldo’s) decision”.
