To hear him tell it, Jose Aldo could not be more at ease with the hype and trash talk spewing from the bearded jowls of his UFC 189 opponent, Conor McGregor.
The UFC featherweight champ recently spoke with members of the media in Las Vegas during a promotional tour to hype the July 11 main event, and he sounded off on McGregor and how he sees his next challenge playing out inside the UFC Octagon.
While some may feel McGregor, with his showy, over-the-top antics, is getting in Aldo’s head, the champ sees things differently. That’s not the case.
In fact, the opposite is true.
“I was never upset (with everything McGregor said),” Aldo told the media. “I just laughed at it. … My mind is my strongest weapon. It’s hard to get into my mind. … Face-offs mean nothing. I’m in his head and he knows what’s coming.
“He asked me to look into his eyes and I did. I saw how he is. I’ve studied him, I know all his movements. I already know what to do in there.”
McGregor‘s showmanship and bravado, Aldo predicts, will be his downfall when the two enter the cage.
One of Aldo’s previous opponents, Cub Swanson, spit vitriol before their WEC 41 encounter, and the words only focused Aldo’s anger and energy.
The result was devastating.
Eight seconds into the fight, Swanson was on the mat in the fetal position, collapsed by a rare double flying knee courtesy of the Brazilian.
“It’s going to be the same thing with this one,” Aldo said.
In one respect, though, Aldo recognizes what McGregor is doing. As a veteran of over 10 years, he understands the fight game and the promotional machine behind it.
While he admits selling fights is not something he enjoys doing, he recognizes it as a necessary evil in the fight business.
And he cut a Joe Namath-style promo for the press in Las Vegas to illustrate that fact.
“I usually don’t say how I’m going to win, but I can guarantee you I’m going to win,” Aldo said.
Aldo certainly seems relaxed, confident and clear-headed going into his UFC 189 showdown, and that might spell doom for the brash Irishman when the lights go down in Vegas.
What do you think? Is Aldo’s talk just that—talk? Is McGregor in his head?
Who has the upper hand here?
Sound off, and we’ll discuss this marquee featherweight showdown.
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