McGregor then fought UFC fighter Chad Mendes instead, securing the interim title.
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“The fight itself is hugely important to the UFC’s future, as a favorable outcome for White and CEO Lorenzo Fertitta (a McGregor win) would pay huge dividends for the company’s brand in 2016, particularly in Europe”, Connolly disclosed.
The quietly spoken Aldo, who has come under fierce criticism in UFC quarters for a string of questionable fight withdrawals, is also prepared to make a statement at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.
Every fight the biggest fight of my career, the next one is always the biggest one, so I’m looking at this one as the biggest fight in my career because it’s the next one. McGregor and Aldo were set to face-off back in July, but the champion had to pull out due to a rib injury.
My man Swinging Johnson at SportsbookReview.com actually has it the other way around, and insists it’s Aldo who will be unprepared for a mixed martial artist the caliber of McGregor. “If he stands across from me in the octagon and gives me the exchanges he says he can, he’ll have my respect”.
The reason McGregor talk so much is because it means so much.
Then out came the stick.
“Here you see me in my prime, no corners cut”. If that’s not enough, the fight card on Saturday night is so stacked that the pioneer crossover star of the smaller weight classes, Urijah Faber, is competing on the preliminary card before the pay-per-view even begins.
When pressed as to whether the current financial rewards he’s reaping are sufficient, McGregor insisted he’s happy with his current deal with the UFC. I don’t need to gather any more intel, any more research.
Now, he’s calm, collected, and as he says, “ready to take out the body in front of him”.
“I will pressure him, I will evade him”. On the ground, I will submit him. “I don’t dwell on it. I simply map out what’s in front of me, visualize what’s in front of me and go out and turn it from imagination into reality”. That’s the beauty of the UFC 194 fight card: everyone can look at the marquee match ups and see something different. My first fight in the UFC was in front of 50,000 people.
It is hard to believe that he truly thinks beating an elite fighter like Aldo will be a cakewalk; however, McGregor has mowed down everyone who has stood in his way at the UFC level.
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“That’s what I want to leave behind”.
