If you thought the women's strawweight fight between Paige VanZant and Rose Namajunas at UFC Fight Night was massive, think again, because there's more to come. Thursday night's UFC Fight Night 80 is just the curtain-raiser for Saturday's massive pay-per-view event UFC 194.
The final PPV of the calendar year features two of the most lethal fighters in the history of the UFC, and the event is, by all means, unmissable.
Defending UFC featherweight champion of the world Jose Aldo, billed as the best pound-for-pound MMA fighter in the world today, takes on interim featherweight title holder Conor McGregor, already established as an UFC A-lister, in the main event of UFC 194. The title unifies on the night, and we get to find out the who becomes the undisputed featherweight champion going into 2016.
McGregor made a grand entry at the UFC 194 Open Workouts as he came out in a neon yellow-green track jacket, spats and a beanie, with an Irish-flavoured techno bagpipes remix playing in the background. From jabs to crosses and spinning kicks, the Irishman gave a glimpse of what is to come this Saturday, 12 December, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
For McGregor, it's all about portraying himself publicly with the highest level of energy, a stark contrast from how Jose Aldo. The Brazilian prefers to keep it calm. "Every fighter wants to draw attention to themselves and he's [McGregor's] helped me do that a lot," Aldo was quoted by the LA Times as saying. "But I've got to keep that out of my mind and just focus on fighting."
UFC president Dana White knows the magnitude of this fight, and the British businessman feels that the five-round Featherweight bout on Saturday night can reach the level of the famous boxing match of 1985 between Marvin Hagler and Thomas Hearns.
"I was in Ireland five weeks ago when Conor told me, 'I'm going to run across the octagon, I'm going to unload and hit him [Aldo] with bombs and I will knock him out in the first four minutes of this fight,'" White said. "That's what he said to me. And I believe, he will run across the octagon.
"When he gets there, he will meet the only 145-pound champion ever, and [Aldo] will respond. When he does, I think it's going to be total, absolute violence. I think it's going to be like Hagler-Hearns."
UFC 194: Aldo vs McGregor schedule:
Date: 12 December, 2015.
Venue: MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas.
TIme: 10 pm EST / 7 pm PST (8:30 am IST, 3 am GMT, 4 am BST, 2 pm AEDT)
TV listings: Sony Kix, Sony Six HD (India), PayPerView (US), RDS 2 (Canada), BT Sport 2 (UK), Combate (Brazil), Fox Sports Australia (Australia).
Main cards:
Jose Aldo vs Conor McGregor (Featherweight title bout)
Chris Weidmann vs Luke Rockhold (Middleweight title bout)
Ronaldo Souza vs Yoel Romero
Demian Maia vs Gunnar Nelson
Max Holloway vs Jeremy Stephens
