Well, not just yet. After a manic 12-day promotional tour that took in five countries, which reached a rather surreal climax in Dublin last night, Conor McGregor and UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) featherweight world champion Jose Aldo will exit the media spotlight and enter their respective fight camps to prepare for a world title bout in Las Vegas that’s still over three months away.
The promotional tour certainly succeeded in surrounding the bout with hype, but if you’re a sports fan who’s not keen on MMA (mixed martial arts), you’ve had my sympathy over the past fortnight. There was no escaping the adventures of Conor McGregor and Jose Aldo. Rest assured, however, that you won’t hear from the pair this frequently again until the week of the fight.
Were there one or two press conferences and staredowns too many? Perhaps. But are fans now anticipating the fight more eagerly than they were two weeks ago? Undoubtedly. Therefore, from the UFC’s perspective, it was a productive exercise.
Depending on whose verdict you listen to, the final assessment is that Aldo/McGregor got inside Aldo’s/McGregor’s head and Aldo/McGregor is now rattled. Amateur psychologists, delete one option as you see fit.
It was fascinating to observe the dynamic between the two men. McGregor was the same McGregor we’ve become familiar with in recent years, but this was uncharted territory for Aldo. The biggest pay-day of his five-year reign as UFC champion will be 11 July, so he’s never engaged in this side of the fight business to such an extent before.
When he spoke to the media for the final time yesterday afternoon before the thousands of fans arrived at Dublin’s Convention Centre, the Brazilian looked exhausted. A man longing for his family and Rio de Janeiro, not another verbal joust with the undisputed champion of that particular form of combat.
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Aldo was pushed to his limits during this tour. Nobody can know for certain if McGregor has gained a psychological advantage ahead of their meeting at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, but — for the most part — the champion held his own.
He was furious at times — never more so than when McGregor got his hands on his belt again yesterday — and the language barrier made the challenge even greater. While McGregor kept the audiences entertained, Aldo waited patiently for the update from his translator. “Jose, he says he’s your daddy and he wants you to sit on his lap.”
There were a few flashpoints earlier in the tour — the first stop in Rio, a heated staredown in Boston, McGregor grabbing Aldo’s shoulder on the set of a Canadian TV show — but the finale in Dublin was always likely to be memorable. And so it transpired.
Had a larger venue been available for yesterday’s questions and answers session with Irish fans, the UFC would have availed of it. There were 3,000 in attendance and thousands more were left disappointed. According to the UFC, 68,000 people were unsuccessful in their attempts to get tickets… for a Q&A session, not a fight. Although it threatened to become one when McGregor held Aldo’s belt aloft.
The support for Conor McGregor there was remarkable. MMA fans around the world were once again taken aback by the unique atmosphere created by the Irish fans, another event that was indicative of the enormous recent growth of the sport here.
Many queued for hours, in the wind and rain, outside the Convention Centre, just to be among the first through the doors. Others loitered with slim hopes of getting their hands on a ticket, but those who made it inside certainly enjoyed themselves.
Unfortunately a handful of fans opted to verbalise their support for Conor McGregor in the form of pretty unsavoury abuse for Jose Aldo. A hostile reception for the champion was always likely — it’s part of the pantomime that is the fight business — but it was difficult to imagine any genuine MMA fan treating a legend of the sport with such disdain. Picture Dan Carter taking part in such an event before an Ireland test match against the All Blacks. Would the dialogue be the same?
By some accounts, Conor McGregor was subjected to similar levels of vitriol in Rio de Janeiro, including the Brazilian fans’ default chant of ‘You’re going to die’. Of course, that also crosses the line between what’s acceptable and what’s not, but the difference is that the Dubliner welcomes, instigates and thrives in those circumstances.
Before yesterday’s fan event kicked off in Dublin, I asked Aldo for his first impressions of Ireland: “I’m liking it here so far,” he said. “This is my first time here. I’m a fan of Ireland and everything here. Hopefully I can come back in the future.”
Had the question been asked this morning, the answer may have been different. The behaviour of the vast majority of those in attendance was good-natured, but some couldn’t resist the opportunity to tell Jose Aldo what was on their minds. Hearing the second-best fighter in the entire Ultimate Fighting Championship be referred to as ‘a pussy’ was certainly a first.
Mixed martial arts dominated the headlines in Ireland yesterday. People who have been involved in the sport for a long time have waited for days like that. It was undoubtedly a memorable day for MMA, but — in some ways — perhaps for the wrong reasons.
Ireland’s seven other UFC fighters also attended the event for their own Q&A session. One of them, Neil Seery, expressed via social media his disappointment with the conduct of some fans. Several other fighters did so privately.
Irish fans are the best around but bandwagon fans and some of there questions are shamefull
Nevertheless, MMA is now cementing its place in the public consciousness in Ireland and there’s an onus of responsibility on everyone connected to it — fans, fighters, media etc. — to highlight the positive aspects of the sport to the floating voters.
When Jose Aldo and Conor McGregor contest their UFC featherweight world title bout this summer, more Irish people will tune into an MMA event than ever before.
Irrespective of the outcome, let’s hope that if Jose Aldo does fulfil that plan to return to Ireland, he’ll be respected for the world-class athlete he is. All Irish MMA fans should know how to go about doing that. We have one of our own, after all.
'Aldo was a man longing for his family and Rio de Janeiro, not another verbal joust'
THE TALKING IS now over and we can finally enjoy the fight.
Well, not just yet. After a manic 12-day promotional tour that took in five countries, which reached a rather surreal climax in Dublin last night, Conor McGregor and UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) featherweight world champion Jose Aldo will exit the media spotlight and enter their respective fight camps to prepare for a world title bout in Las Vegas that’s still over three months away.
The promotional tour certainly succeeded in surrounding the bout with hype, but if you’re a sports fan who’s not keen on MMA (mixed martial arts), you’ve had my sympathy over the past fortnight. There was no escaping the adventures of Conor McGregor and Jose Aldo. Rest assured, however, that you won’t hear from the pair this frequently again until the week of the fight.
Were there one or two press conferences and staredowns too many? Perhaps. But are fans now anticipating the fight more eagerly than they were two weeks ago? Undoubtedly. Therefore, from the UFC’s perspective, it was a productive exercise.
Depending on whose verdict you listen to, the final assessment is that Aldo/McGregor got inside Aldo’s/McGregor’s head and Aldo/McGregor is now rattled. Amateur psychologists, delete one option as you see fit.
It was fascinating to observe the dynamic between the two men. McGregor was the same McGregor we’ve become familiar with in recent years, but this was uncharted territory for Aldo. The biggest pay-day of his five-year reign as UFC champion will be 11 July, so he’s never engaged in this side of the fight business to such an extent before.
When he spoke to the media for the final time yesterday afternoon before the thousands of fans arrived at Dublin’s Convention Centre, the Brazilian looked exhausted. A man longing for his family and Rio de Janeiro, not another verbal joust with the undisputed champion of that particular form of combat.
Aldo was pushed to his limits during this tour. Nobody can know for certain if McGregor has gained a psychological advantage ahead of their meeting at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, but — for the most part — the champion held his own.
He was furious at times — never more so than when McGregor got his hands on his belt again yesterday — and the language barrier made the challenge even greater. While McGregor kept the audiences entertained, Aldo waited patiently for the update from his translator. “Jose, he says he’s your daddy and he wants you to sit on his lap.”
There were a few flashpoints earlier in the tour — the first stop in Rio, a heated staredown in Boston, McGregor grabbing Aldo’s shoulder on the set of a Canadian TV show — but the finale in Dublin was always likely to be memorable. And so it transpired.
Had a larger venue been available for yesterday’s questions and answers session with Irish fans, the UFC would have availed of it. There were 3,000 in attendance and thousands more were left disappointed. According to the UFC, 68,000 people were unsuccessful in their attempts to get tickets… for a Q&A session, not a fight. Although it threatened to become one when McGregor held Aldo’s belt aloft.
The support for Conor McGregor there was remarkable. MMA fans around the world were once again taken aback by the unique atmosphere created by the Irish fans, another event that was indicative of the enormous recent growth of the sport here.
Many queued for hours, in the wind and rain, outside the Convention Centre, just to be among the first through the doors. Others loitered with slim hopes of getting their hands on a ticket, but those who made it inside certainly enjoyed themselves.
Unfortunately a handful of fans opted to verbalise their support for Conor McGregor in the form of pretty unsavoury abuse for Jose Aldo. A hostile reception for the champion was always likely — it’s part of the pantomime that is the fight business — but it was difficult to imagine any genuine MMA fan treating a legend of the sport with such disdain. Picture Dan Carter taking part in such an event before an Ireland test match against the All Blacks. Would the dialogue be the same?
By some accounts, Conor McGregor was subjected to similar levels of vitriol in Rio de Janeiro, including the Brazilian fans’ default chant of ‘You’re going to die’. Of course, that also crosses the line between what’s acceptable and what’s not, but the difference is that the Dubliner welcomes, instigates and thrives in those circumstances.
Before yesterday’s fan event kicked off in Dublin, I asked Aldo for his first impressions of Ireland: “I’m liking it here so far,” he said. “This is my first time here. I’m a fan of Ireland and everything here. Hopefully I can come back in the future.”
Had the question been asked this morning, the answer may have been different. The behaviour of the vast majority of those in attendance was good-natured, but some couldn’t resist the opportunity to tell Jose Aldo what was on their minds. Hearing the second-best fighter in the entire Ultimate Fighting Championship be referred to as ‘a pussy’ was certainly a first.
Mixed martial arts dominated the headlines in Ireland yesterday. People who have been involved in the sport for a long time have waited for days like that. It was undoubtedly a memorable day for MMA, but — in some ways — perhaps for the wrong reasons.
Ireland’s seven other UFC fighters also attended the event for their own Q&A session. One of them, Neil Seery, expressed via social media his disappointment with the conduct of some fans. Several other fighters did so privately.
Nevertheless, MMA is now cementing its place in the public consciousness in Ireland and there’s an onus of responsibility on everyone connected to it — fans, fighters, media etc. — to highlight the positive aspects of the sport to the floating voters.
When Jose Aldo and Conor McGregor contest their UFC featherweight world title bout this summer, more Irish people will tune into an MMA event than ever before.
Irrespective of the outcome, let’s hope that if Jose Aldo does fulfil that plan to return to Ireland, he’ll be respected for the world-class athlete he is. All Irish MMA fans should know how to go about doing that. We have one of our own, after all.
UFC champion Jose Aldo rode a rickshaw around Dublin last night
McGregor: Aldo is sloppy, his leg kicks are overrated and fight will be over inside 4 minutes
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Conor McGregor Jose Aldo MMA Opinion UFC UFC 189