An official UFC featherweight champion will be crowned Saturday night in Las Vegas when incumbent titleholder Jose Aldo and interim champ Conor McGregor clash at UFC 194.
Aldo and McGregor have just three losses between themselves, and neither of them has been defeated during his time in UFC. Both are widely regarded as two of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world, which is why their meeting is among the most highly anticipated fights in recent memory.
Before Aldo and McGregor weigh in and eventually lock horns, here is a look at both fighters, including the current odds for whom the bookmakers expect to come out on top.
Where: MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas
When: Saturday, Dec. 12, at 10 p.m. ET (main card start time)
Watch: Pay-per-view
Updated Odds
| Fighter | Odds |
| Jose Aldo | 1-1 |
| Conor McGregor | 10-13 |
Source: Odds Shark
What Aldo's Saying
The 29-year-old Aldo rides an 18-fight winning streak into UFC 194, but it has been over a year since he last competed because of injury, which has caused many to question if he'll be able to handle a fighter the caliber of McGregor.
Not surprisingly, Aldo is confident, though, and has had plenty to say about his chances leading up to the contest.
McGregor has done his best to get inside Aldo's head, and one of his tactics was to tell the Brazilian star on UFC 194 Embedded (via Martin Domin of the Daily Mail) he had sent spies to his training camp.
Aldo turned it around on him, however, by claiming the so-called spies were watching a fighter who is primed to come out on top, 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
There is no question that McGregor is among the top fighters in the world, but much of the publicity surrounding him comes from his outspokenness and brash attitude.
Aldo made it clear he isn't allowing any of the outside noise to get to him as he is treating the upcoming fight like any other, according to Damon Martin of FoxSports.com:
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. To me he's just the same. I've fought a lot of the top fighters out there, and to me he's really just another opponent that I have to go in there and beat.
Among the two fighters, Aldo is by far the less boisterous competitor, but he has held his own in terms of not allowing McGregor to walk all over him.
Although it could be a different story in the Octagon, Aldo has proved capable of standing toe-to-toe with McGregor during the pre-fight festivities.
What McGregor's Saying
There is perhaps no bigger character in the world of mixed martial arts than McGregor, and that has been on full display in the weeks prior to his showdown with Aldo.
The 27-year-old Irishman is on an incredible roll in his own right with 14 straight wins, including four in a row by way of knockout.
Stopping his opponent is McGregor's preferred way to win fights, and as he told Jim Rome of CBS Sports, he doesn't believe it will take long to do that to Aldo on Saturday:
.@TheNotoriousMMA told me he’ll finish Aldo 4 mins in 1st round. “I feel my fist will go through his head at 100mph and that will be that.”
— Jim Rome (@jimrome) December 9, 2015
Nobody has managed to solve Aldo over the course of his UFC career, yet McGregor doesn't envision himself having any issues whatsoever.
According to Lance Pugmire of the Los Angeles Times, McGregor believes he is better in all areas and will knock Aldo out regardless of where the flow of the fight takes them:
If the fight stays on our feet, I'm going to finish him. If it goes to the ground, I'm going to finish him. ... I'll be a ghost. He will chase me and I'll not be there. Jose falls into the same patterns. He moves the same. He kicks and punches the same. It's repetition. He does the same thing over and over. He's too predictable.
There is little doubt that much of what McGregor has been saying is a tactic meant to throw Aldo off his game, but at the same time, he has always shown a great deal of confidence in himself.
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.
Aldo is unlike anyone he has faced to this point, but that fact doesn't seem to faze McGregor one bit.
Prediction
Aldo and McGregor are two of the best in any weight class, and there is very little separating them in terms of their skills and what they have accomplished thus far.
That is why they are essentially on equal footing from a betting perspective as well. They are evenly matched, and it is easy to envision the fight playing out in any number of ways.
Perhaps the biggest factor that sets them apart, though, is power and finishing ability. Aldo is no slouch in the power department, but he largely relies on going the distance and beating his opponents on the scorecards.
McGregor, on the other hand, is an aggressive fighter who chooses not to tempt fate. That style could get him into trouble, although it hasn't yet.
Aldo's long layoff is another wild card that seemingly falls in McGregor's favor, as it has been over a year since the Brazilian has fought anyone, let alone someone like McGregor.
Because of all those factors, McGregor will continue to make his case as the male face of UFC with the biggest victory of his career Saturday by way of a third-round knockout.
Follow @MikeChiari on Twitter.
