As current featherweight champion Jose Aldo and Conor McGregor prepare for their much-anticipated UFC 194 headline match Saturday at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, there is no shortage of drama.
During their weigh-in Friday the two fighters nearly came to blows and had to be separated. UFC 194 shared a video of the skirmish, where Aldo mocked McGregor's stance.
UFC featherweight strap is on the line at #UFC194! @JoseAldoJunior vs @TheNotoriousMMA Sat. Dec. 12 | LIVE on PPV https://t.co/peZQfW5vJt
— #TUFFinale (@ufc) December 11, 2015
Per SB Nation's Bloody Elbow, more than 9,000 fans showed up for the spectacle at the MGM, and they seemed to enjoy the pre-fight action.
Both fighters made weight at 145 pounds as they prepare for the bout. Along with the drama, there was no shortage of social media opinion on the fight either.
Aldo (25-1 MMA, 7-0 UFC) and McGregor (18-2 MMA, 6-0 UFC) are providing excitement never seen before at UFC, per Bloody Elbow:
Overwhelming answer is yes, Aldo vs. McGregor is your most anticipated fight in UFC history. It's about 30 hours away or so from happening.
— Bloody Elbow (@BloodyElbow) December 11, 2015
The line on this fight has gone back and forth because of delays and an earlier injury to McGregor, per OddsShark. As of Thursday, McGregor was at -130 to win, and Aldo even money.
Former MMA fighter Chael Sonnen shared his opinion of what it will take for Aldo to win, per SportsCenter:
.@sonnench says Jose Aldo will have to use his leg kicks to beat Conor McGregor at UFC 194. https://t.co/EeVg8DaEzC
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) December 11, 2015
Aldo amusingly gave his thoughts as well, per FOX Sports: UFC:
Jose Aldo: If Conor has spies in my camp, they must be telling him that I'm going to win this fight #UFC194
— FOX Sports: UFC (@UFCONFOX) December 9, 2015
McGregor showed his confidence Thursday with this tweet, declaring himself the "Champ":
Come party w/ the Champ @slslasvegas after #UFC194! Free entry with your winning 1st rd KO betting slips! @budlight pic.twitter.com/XAjd9gkk8r
— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) December 11, 2015
One person who most likely doesn't care who wins is UFC President Dana White. The more the hype, the more money and exposure for the UFC. White shared his excitement and a different view of the weigh-in via Twitter:
SO PUMPED!!!! @josealdojunioroficial @thenotoriousmma #UFC194 pic.twitter.com/xUX4C5p0Fd
— Dana White (@danawhite) December 12, 2015
It should certainly be a good bout between two fighters who have combined to win 43 of their 46 fights.
MMA Junkie shared predictions from the media (and its readers) with Aldo coming out as the favorite. He was chosen by 55 percent of the readers, and seven of the nine media members.
However, when MMA Junkie interviewed other media members from around the globe, they were mostly torn when making a decision.
In a video in the article, MMA writer John Morgan liked Aldo and his speed to come out on top, although he thinks it will be close.
I tell you what, Conor seems relaxed, he seems confident. All those intangible things lead me to say Conor McGregor. But, Jose Aldo, the man has not lost in 10 years. Conor has done such a fantastic job of talking that people forgot how good Jose Aldo is. This fight means a lot to Jose Aldo. I think he gets it done.
Paul Dollery of Ireland's online sports publication THE42.IE, said in the same video that making a definite prediction would be foolish:
Well yeah I think anybody who is predicting this fight with any great degree of certainty is probably lying you know because nobody knows for sure how this is going to go. I think a really important element is going to be who takes the center of the octagon and backs their opponent up.
Although with no degree of certainty, Dollery later seemed to lean toward McGregor:
"We've seen Jose maybe slowing down the second and third round previously, so if Conor can get those kind of cheap kicks off and take the wind out of Jose the way he did with Chad [Mendes at UFC 189], I think that could be the key."
The talent of these two is so good that Dollery makes a great point. But it might be best to play it safe and go with the current champ, said E. Spencer Kyte of British Columbia's The Province.com:
"I'm torn, but I can't go against the champion. It feels weird to me to bet against the champion that hasn't lost a fight in 10 years. ... As much as I think Conor is a phenomenal talent and could very easily win this fight, I think the title goes back to Brazil with Jose Also."
So there you have it, the fight will be a close one. While McGregor has done most of the talking (including this NSFW tirade earlier in the week), Aldo played the mind trick at the weigh-in and crawled into McGregor's head.
Look for Aldo to use his experience, and time off, to take this one in a split-decision.
