It didn’t go down when we wanted, but Jose Aldo vs. Conor McGregor is still coming.
And our patience will be rewarded.
After Aldo pulled out of his scheduled UFC 189 bout with McGregor just two weeks before their play date, the MMA universe erupted.
The gods of the fighting realm are cruel and unfair. They robbed us of the biggest, most-hyped main event of the year.
They took away our fun and excitement.
Only the same gods secretly had our best interest at heart. We just didn’t know it at the time. While we were grumbling and pouting, the powers that be called up Chad “Money” Mendes to face McGregor in Aldo’s absence.
It wasn’t what we wanted, but it’d do.
And with our our full attention focused on the main event switcheroo, the gods had the time and privacy to do something extraordinary. They arranged what was arguably the best pay-per-view card in UFC history.
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The warm-up fights before the main event, crazy as it may seem, are the reason why Aldo’s injury ultimately didn’t matter. The good vibes rolled so fiercely by the time McGregor set foot inside the cage that nothing could ruin our night.
In four fights, we had four spectacular finishes, and McGregor would soon add a fifth.
With his second-round TKO over Mendes, the stage for an Aldo showdown was set—finally—and the production crew added a few spotlights and a laser show in the meantime.
This bout carries even more glitz and glamour after UFC 189, largely because McGregor went out and performed. He faced his toughest test to date in Mendes, who pushed Aldo for five full rounds in the not-too-distant past, and he emerged the same as always: hand raised, opponent woozy.
Many felt Aldo would steamroll the untested and “all talk” McGregor as they strolled into UFC 189, but you’d be delusional to carry those same beliefs now. Mendes, even on two weeks’ notice, is a serious challenge for any featherweight.
McGregor smiled as he absorbed crushing blow after crushing blow, punches that can—and have—obliterated lesser men.
He fantastically popped back up after an early takedown, taunting Mendes with a “see, that wasn’t too bad” attitude that was equal parts insanity and brilliance.
And it is this magnificence that makes Jose Aldo vs. Conor McGregor Redux the hottest feature film on the UFC’s radar right now. It was good before, but now it will be even better, even crazier, even more outrageous.
If you couldn’t stand McGregor before, imagine how he’ll act with a belt of his own. You just know he’ll declare his belt the true championship, belittling everything Aldo has done and will do in the process.
Aldo, meanwhile, will respond to allegations that his injury was overblown, that he could have made it to the cage Saturday in Las Vegas to face the Irishman.
Something tells me the longtime champ isn’t going to react too pleasantly the next time he and McGregor are face to face.
So the feud intensifies.
Because now McGregor owns a legitimate, top-level scalp, and he can place it on his mantle right next to his UFC championship strap.
What was once unknown and questioned is now cemented in fact. The argument that Aldo is clearly miles ahead of McGregor in the fight game just doesn’t hold up after Saturday evening.
Before, the fight was super fun and anticipated because of the talk.
Now, it’s the action that has everyone frothing at the mouth.
McGregor is for real, and there’s no doubt he will give Aldo a fight. He might even beat him. If he doesn’t, it will only further catapult Aldo into the land of the legendary, intensifying “greatest of all time” discussions in the process.
Take 2 of your previously scheduled Aldo vs. McGregor programming is coming as early as Jan. 2, according to UFC CEO Lorenzo Fertitta (h/t ESPN’s Brett Okamoto), so settle in and get comfy.
UFC 189 was only an appetizer.
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