Jose Aldo vs. Conor McGregor Official For UFC 189 Main Event In July
The awaited featherweight title fight between longtime champ Jose Aldo and Irish superstar Conor McGregor officially has a date, as the two mortal enemies will do battle in the main event of July 11’s UFC 189 from Las Vegas, Nevada. The promotion confirmed the date at today’s (Fri., January 30, 2015) Q&A session with McGregor prior to the UFC 183 weigh-ins.
The bout, which came to fruition after McGregor destroyed an overmatched Dennis Siver with a second round TKO in the main event of January 18’s UFC Fight Night 59 from Boston, was originally thought to go down in May, but news came earlier this week that the fight had been pushed back to mid-summer.
Aldo has won an unprecedented nine straight title defenses since the UFC absorbed the WEC featherweight division in 2011. All told, he’s won 18 straight bouts and was most recently seen defeating Chad Mendes in what many deemed as 2014’s “Fight of the Year” at UFC 179 last October.
McGregor, meanwhile has taken the featherweight division by storm since his debut in early 2013, dispatching five straight foes while calling out basically every top contender in the talented division. However, the only opponent he’s beaten with legitimate Top 5 credentials is Dustin Poirier, who has since gone back to his original weight class of lightweight to avoid the taxing cuts on his body.
The jury may still be out on McGregor’s ability to hang with the absolute best featherweights in the world, but one thing is for certain: he’s brought life and vigor to a division that was talented but lacking in true mainstream star power.
We’ll find out just how good he is when he faces off with pound-for-pound great Aldo this summer. Who is your early pick to leave Las Vegas with the gold?
