UFC 194: Aldo vs McGregor

[WyattSheepMask]

I'm sure they do, but that didn't cross my mind as I'd never be prepared to trowel the internet at all hours of the morning looking for one

[Chunk]

Cheers.

 

What a total ball ache. So it's either sign up to BT and cancel after a month, which looks like it'll cost me £35, or wait until the next day and try and find a torrent.

 

Streaming sites always seem like more hassle than they're worth. Buffering right at the critical time, terrible image quality and more effort spent finding a stream than actually sitting back and watching it.

[tiger_rick]

I'm sure they do, but that didn't cross my mind as I'd never be prepared to trowel the internet at all hours of the morning looking for one

I think you meant trawl, sheepy. Wouldn't start digging around the internet at that time in the morning!

 

This fight piqued my dormant interest the first time so looking forward to it again. Only issue is I'm out late on the Saturday at NXT and up early on the Sunday for an Xmas event for my girls. Need to avoid until Sunday evening to watch!

[lambyUK]

Cheers.

 

What a total ball ache. So it's either sign up to BT and cancel after a month, which looks like it'll cost me £35, or wait until the next day and try and find a torrent.

 

Streaming sites always seem like more hassle than they're worth. Buffering right at the critical time, terrible image quality and more effort spent finding a stream than actually sitting back and watching it.

 

Before I subscribed to BT sport I asked my mate at work for use of his BT login. He never used it himself so wasn't bothered. 

 

If there's anyone you know, then you can watch using the BT app on a tablet, or directly online. You could also get a google chromecast and cast it from your tablet or phone to your TV. 

[WyattSheepMask]

 

I'm sure they do, but that didn't cross my mind as I'd never be prepared to trowel the internet at all hours of the morning looking for one

I think you meant trawl, sheepy. Wouldn't start digging around the internet at that time in the morning!

Never even noticed that Rick, lousy predictive txt.

[Egg Shen]

The hype itself is probably the same, it just felt like more last time as the fight was cancelled coming off the back of that insane media tour they did.

[WyattSheepMask]

Anyone having a punt on UFC194? I'm only going with a double of Aldo & Weidman to retain, which pays 4/1

[Supremo]

Article by Conor's coach John Kavanagh. Details the insane amount of demands that Conor has for his time these days, along with getting a nice dig in on how Aldo's team handled that drug test earlier this year.

 

WITHOUT GETTING AHEAD of ourselves because we’re not quite there just yet, it’s pretty exciting that the fight we’ve been preparing for all year is finally almost upon us.

 

For the past week, I’ve been here in Los Angeles with Conor McGregor as we conclude our training camp for the featherweight title unification bout against Jose Aldo in Las Vegas a week on Saturday.

 

We’ll stay here in LA for the remainder of this week before moving across to Vegas next Monday. There’s something about going from the dark and cold of Dublin to the sunshine and sea air of LA which revitalises the body and mind.

 

There’s a great atmosphere among the group of guys — Gunnar Nelson and Artem Lobov are here too, of course — and for me, as a coach, when I see that level of energy, I’ll always latch on to it and turn it into productive training sessions.

 

We’ve been training on the beach during the day and in the gym at night. The circumstances couldn’t be any better. Weight is always an important issue for Conor, but at this point, we’re far ahead of any targets we’ve aimed for before. The entire process has been very easy, which is funny given that we’re preparing for the biggest fight yet. But that’s just the way it has been so far and the way it is right now.

 

At this stage before the last fight back in July, we didn’t even know if there was going to be a fight. We weren’t sure if Jose Aldo was in or out and Conor’s knee injury wasn’t looking great either. It was touch-and-go whether there was going to be a contest at all.

 

Everything only came together with days to go, which was probably one of the reasons why Conor’s weight-cut was more difficult than normal on that occasion. It doesn’t matter who you are, it’s impossible to stay 100% disciplined if there’s a strong chance that there won’t even be a fight.

 

But everything is looking good for this fight to finally go ahead now, so we’re in a much better place at this point in time. The fight is going to happen, Conor is free of injuries, his weight is on point… basically, a lot of factors are combining to make everything perfect. I really believe you’re going to see a completely new Conor. Not just as a coach, but also as a fan, I’m extremely excited to see it all unfold.

 

Whenever I’m on social media, flicking through Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or whatever, I see a lot of UFC fighters posting videos of what they’re up to in training. Now, they’re obviously all going to say they’re not doing it, but they’re putting up their capoeira kicks, spinning kicks, their movement drills on the ground… Let’s be honest, was any of that stuff happening before Conor started doing it? No, it wasn’t.

 

I remember when people were posting about their Sean Sherk-style ‘Fight Gone Bad’ fitness training and weight-lifting, but now everyone is saying, ‘Of course we don’t do that, it’s all about movement drills and keeping the body fresh’. I can do nothing but smile when I see it, but I’m happy too because I do genuinely believe that Conor has changed the general approach to training.

 

In the long run, that’s only going to be good for MMA as a sport. It’ll mean that we’ll have more healthy athletes, fewer people being hurt and injured, and subsequently better fights. If other fighters are copying what Conor’s doing and it improves the sport as a whole, that’s fine with me.

 

In saying that, however, they’re looking at stuff he was doing last year. They have no idea what he’s doing now. Things change by the day with Conor and there are new things coming which I know other fighters will be doing this time next year. It’s been interesting to observe that evolution. Obviously I’m not going to let you in on what those new things are, but the styles and techniques you’ll see in this fight haven’t been done yet.

 

A knee injury Conor picked up ahead of the last fight was a big concern but that’s no longer a problem. In his current condition, there’s no need for surgery. That’s a last resort which won’t be necessary. Conor has built up the muscles which support the knee so it’s rock-solid now and he’s looking great. We’re coming to the end of a good training camp and there have been no issues whatsoever.

 

But one thing that did concern me was the demands that were being placed on Conor while he was preparing for this fight in Dublin by people who, to be fair, only meant well. I’m not going to lie; it wasn’t easy at first. The problem is that the more you do, the more people want. There was no end to the demand for pictures, meetings and interviews.

 

We’re told a lot of genuinely heartbreaking stories from different charities who might want an appearance or to have something signed, and we try to do as much as we can. But no matter how many you do, there’s going to be another thousand behind them. And it’s unfortunate that you can’t do them all because there are some really tragic stories, but at a certain stage you have to get back to focusing on what put you in that position in the first place: training to fight.

 

You wouldn’t believe how many people in tough situations we have to say no to simply because of time constraints, let alone fans from around the country who are contacting the gym just looking to arrange a photo or an autograph. You could spend all day every day trying to satisfy people but you still wouldn’t get to them all. It’s never-ending and it’s only multiplying as time goes on.

 

But we’ve learned to adapt and overcome in a lot of situations over the last three-to-five years, and that’s what we’ll do now. It’s a good complaint to have — receiving so much attention is a sign that you’re doing things right — but we’ll figure it out, as we always do, and we’ll know how to handle that side of things while we’re training in Dublin ahead of the next fight.

 

The Irish Sports Council are employed by the United States Anti-Doping Agency — who oversee the UFC’s drug-testing programme — to carry out the tests in Ireland and they’ve been at the gym numerous times over the last few weeks and months. Unlike some other fighters, we just don’t feel the need to make a social media announcement about it.

 

A record of who has been tested — and when — is available to view on USADA’s website, so the information is there for all to see. I’ll tell you what the Irish Sports Council aren’t doing; they’re not asking for selfies at the end of a urine test or destroying samples, and we’re not getting the police involved or asking for visas and permits. We carry out the tests, as required, and then we carry on with our training. Simple.

 

I’ve said from the start that I can see this being a two-round fight, yet another part of me can see it being over in 60 seconds. But we give respect where it’s due because Jose Aldo has been the champion for a long time.

 

He’ll probably try to slow the pace down and initiate some grappling exchanges. However, with Conor’s fight IQ and the manner in which he can read situations, even if Aldo comes out with a completely new style and approach, it won’t take Conor long to work it out. It’s almost like The Matrix, in that he sees a new problem which is being presented, downloads the correct response from his brain and then executes the plan.

 

I think it’s going to be really difficult for anybody at this stage to last longer than seven or eight minutes with Conor in that type of environment. If it’s not an extremely quick finish, I definitely can’t see it going beyond the second round.

 

[wandshogun09]

Great read. I've got a feeling people are going to run with the '60 seconds' bit though and there'll be a bunch of 'McGregor by KO within a minute' predictions. I love McGregor and I can definitely envision him winning and possibly knocking Aldo out, but some of the shit I'm reading it's like people are talking like Aldo's some bum. I get Kavanagh saying this because he's with Conor every day of camp and he's hugely confident and supportive towards him. But when someone's as good a talker as McGregor, as great a self promoter and as charismatic as McGregor it's like some people go mad and start making wild predictions because it's either a) what they want to see or b) they've completely been swept up in McGregor's talk. I get that he's backed up his words up to now but we're talking about Jose fucking Aldo this time.

 

However you slice it Aldo is several levels up from the likes of Poirier and Siver and a better, faster, more varied and more technical striker than Mendes. I'm not ruling out McGregor landing a bomb early, he's got stupid power and he's accurate so it's possible. But Aldo's an animal. But anyone talking like McGregor is just going to walk through Aldo like he's nothing, that's a bit much.

 

I will say though, I'm about 50/50 despite picking Aldo to win, but when you look back at 2015 and the last month in particular - Rousey losing, Klitschko's 11 year reign ending - it kind of feels like it's just McGregor's time to end another long title reign.

 

In other news, John McCarthy is reffing Aldo vs McGregor. Herb Dean is reffing Weidman vs Rockhold.

 

Good to hear they've got the two best in the business in there for these fights.

[Supremo]

I like to think that I'm better than most at being able to separate the hype from reality, but even I feel like I got carried away recently in believing that Conor was going to beat Aldo.

 

Then I went back and watched a couple of Aldo fights. And then I remembered that he's a fucking animal who fucks people up. Badly. He's an absolute destroyer. I know that Conor has always managed to back up his shit talking, but this is his biggest task by far. It's genuinely surprising that he's the favourite with loads of bookies. If you actually look at Aldo's work up until this point, he's had a career similar to Anderson Silva or Jon Jones, where there's always an outside chance he'll lose, but until it actually happens then he feels impossible to bet against. It really is the perfect fight, isn't it? I'm more than likely putting money on Aldo, so that it's a win-win situation. If Aldo wins (which I'm probably 60/40 on right now) then I win some cash. And, of course, if Conor wins, I won't care about the money I've lost because I'll have died due to an overdose of joy.

 

I think watching what happened to Ronda at 193 suggests that Conor and his team have made the right decision in training in relative privacy. Not to downplay Holly or her coach's performances, but all the outside bullshit and the ridiculous amount of media Ronda had to do will have definitely played a factor. In that sense, I think this Conor, who's been focussed almost entirely on training, has a better chance of beating Aldo than the Conor who was living in that mansion last June and seemed to be doing every interview and press conference possible.

[Rey_Piste]

The hype itself is probably the same, it just felt like more last time as the fight was cancelled coming off the back of that insane media tour they did.

I expect the hype train will be going full force for the week beforehand, I think Dana is scared of pulling the trigger until both Aldo and Macgregor are in Vegas and confirmed to fight.

[Supremo]

http://youtu.be/LN5JIeqeWQw

 

I feel like I might live to regret it, but I'm really starting to allow myself to get legitimately excited about this show.

[Rey_Piste]

Both head-liners are both fights that should be close to call and both should be battles. My arsehole will be twitching like a rabbits nose until the day before hoping that both fights go ahead as planned.

[ColinBollocks]

I like to think that I'm better than most at being able to separate the hype from reality, but even I feel like I got carried away recently in believing that Conor was going to beat Aldo.

 

Then I went back and watched a couple of Aldo fights. And then I remembered that he's a fucking animal who fucks people up. Badly. He's an absolute destroyer. I know that Conor has always managed to back up his shit talking, but this is his biggest task by far. It's genuinely surprising that he's the favourite with loads of bookies. If you actually look at Aldo's work up until this point, he's had a career similar to Anderson Silva or Jon Jones, where there's always an outside chance he'll lose, but until it actually happens then he feels impossible to bet against. It really is the perfect fight, isn't it? I'm more than likely putting money on Aldo, so that it's a win-win situation. If Aldo wins (which I'm probably 60/40 on right now) then I win some cash. And, of course, if Conor wins, I won't care about the money I've lost because I'll have died due to an overdose of joy.

 

I think watching what happened to Ronda at 193 suggests that Conor and his team have made the right decision in training in relative privacy. Not to downplay Holly or her coach's performances, but all the outside bullshit and the ridiculous amount of media Ronda had to do will have definitely played a factor. In that sense, I think this Conor, who's been focussed almost entirely on training, has a better chance of beating Aldo than the Conor who was living in that mansion last June and seemed to be doing every interview and press conference possible.

I'm kind of in a similar position. Post-Mendes I'm starting to think McGregor can do anything, which may not be true. The thing with McGregor is he's got some serious power in those hands of his. Even if Aldo, predictably, bosses the majority of the fight, McGregor still has the power that has dropped all sorts. Be interesting to see what Aldo does to avoid McGregor connecting.

 

Amazing scenes if either man gets knocked out.

 

This card is starting to feel like it's overtaking 100 as the most hyped I've been for a UFC show. Certainly, only 194 has come close to matching it since then.

[wandshogun09]

Yeah, I'm liking that McGregor's gone a bit quieter. I think it's because, despite all his bravado and some of the shit he's said about Aldo to hype this fight, he knows full well this is going to be his hardest test yet by far. I mean, there isn't a harder test than Jose Aldo on the planet if you fight at 145lbs.

 

It's a brilliant fight for so many reasons. Both of them offer threats to each other that I don't think anyone else in the division could threaten either with. Aldo is the only man at 145 I could see getting the better of McGregor in a standup fight. And McGregor is the only man at 145 I could see getting the better of Aldo in a standup fight. Aldo has the grappling advantage if he can take the fight to the ground. McGregor has the range and length. Aldo has the lethal leg kicks. McGregor has more one shot power. I think Aldo has the speed advantage. McGregor is more unpredictable. Both can take a shot (as they showed against Mendes). Both have heart (as they showed against Mendes). It really is a phenomenal fight and there are so many ways I can see it going.

 

I'm not exaggerating when I say this - I think it might be the most perfect matchup of styles in UFC history. And by styles I mean fighting styles and their contrasting personalities. They are just perfect rivals. I can't think of another fight that I was so excited about as I am this one. Silva vs Sonnen, Jones vs Cormier and Lesnar vs Mir come close but, for me personally, this fight tops them all.

 

And to think, this is a featherweight fight I'm talking about! Remember when festherweight was considered a weak division? Now it might be one of most exciting and talent rich weight classes in all of MMA.