By Jonathan M King The Clinch Report
Now that the dust has settled, and the shock has worn off. With the arm chair experts finally starting to find something else to pontificate about, the MMA world can go back to business as usual.
Up next is the highly anticipated fight between long time champion Jose Aldo, and interim champion Conor McGregor that will unify the featherweight crown. The event is stacked from top to bottom with exciting fights and also features the middleweight title fight between Chris Weidman and Luke Rockhold. However, the one fight that could be is perhaps the one I look forward to most.
I am looking forward to this event on many different levels. The obvious one being both Aldo and McGregor are two of the sports most exciting strikers and when (if) they do face off, it will certainly be an entertaining fight. Aldo has lightning fast hand speed, vicious kicks, and a knack for finding a way to win. In fact he has won 18 fights in a row. However he has performances at times have been uninspired.
McGregor is as long as the day is, and he can touch the Brazilian from across the cage. His straight punches work extremely well when he sets them up with his kicks. Couple that with his body attacks and it is like he robs his victims off air, before he starches the life completely out of them with his precision striking. However as his last fight with Chad Mendes proved, on the ground he can still be dominated. Aldo although known for his striking is also a wizard on the mat. Should the fight find its way to the ground, Aldo would maintain a significant advantage.
Another reason for the excitement is the injury contingent already in place. Frankie Edgar will be on weight and ready if one of the fighters injure himself. For me, Edgar vs McGregor or Edgar vs Aldo could actually be a more exciting fight then the one already on the marquee.
Arguably Frankie Edgar is the most dangerous fighter in the division right now. His last performances have been nothing short of inspirational. His four fight win streak started by stifling prospect Charles Olivera. It continued with Edgar retiring the legend BJ Penn in a one sided thrashing. Perhaps his most impressive performance came in his next fight when he absolutely decimated Cub Swanson for the better part of 5 rounds before cranking his neck for late submission win. In his last effort, Edgar dominated perennial 2 division contender Uriah Faber in a match that many thought would be even.
The ‘The Answer’ is a little upset. He has been overlooked. Since the McGregor train started rolling Edgar has been the odd man out. For whatever reason to this point, it could be his loss to Aldo (which I though was a very good fight), or it could be a promoters legitimate fear. After all look what he did to prospect Charles Olivera only the matchmakers can answer that question. Maybe the fear is he could make McGregor look just as silly as he has made the last 3 contenders he faced. A bad loss for McGregor would loose some stock value, but should it? Or it could be due to ticket sales and popularity. If the latter is true, it would truly be a shame.
Hopefully the injury bug does not make an impact on this event, hopefully Aldo and McGregor get to tango and we all get to witness. Whoever wins though should be very mindful of the fight the very next day. Should Edgar continue his march through Chad Mendes, you can be sure of one certainty. The Answer has next!
MAIN CARD (Pay-per-view, 10 p.m. ET)
Champ Jose Aldo vs. Conor McGregor – for featherweight title
Champ Chris Weidman vs. Luke Rockhold – for middleweight title
Yoel Romero vs. Ronaldo Souza
Demian Maia vs. Gunnar Nelson
Max Holloway vs. Jeremy Stephens
PRELIMINARY CARD (FOX Sports 1, 8 p.m. ET)
Urijah Faber vs. Frankie Saenz
Tecia Torres vs. Michelle Waterson
Warlley Alves vs. Colby Covington
Kevin Lee vs. Leonardo Santos
PRELIMINARY CARD (UFC Fight Pass, 7 p.m. ET)
Magomed Mustafaev vs. Joe Proctor
John Makdessi vs. Yancy Medeiros
Marcio Alexandre vs. Court McGee
THE CLINCH REPORT 