Jose Aldo will face Conor McGregor on July 11 at UFC 189 during the UFC’s International Fight Week.
The news was announced Friday afternoon during a UFC 183 question and answer session with McGregor in Las Vegas and confirmed with a tweet from the UFC’s official Twitter account.
“I’m going to rip that Brazilian’s head off,” McGregor said after announcing the fight. “This is just another man in my way.”
McGregor‘s sharp tongue has been on full display since making his UFC debut in April 2013. He’s called out virtually all the top names in the featherweight division, and this bravado, combined with a five-fight winning streak inside the Octagon, earned him a shot to prove his worth against the best of the best in Mr. Aldo.
Aldo, for his part, has remained unfazed through it all.
The 145-pound champ is calm and collected, showing no fear and giving no ground to the Irish superstar.
Even when McGregor charged Aldo after knocking out Dennis Siver at UFC Fight Night 59, the champ smiled and smirked, making light of the situation and refusing to get baited into the Irish fighter’s world.
From this perspective alone, the fight is intriguing. McGregor the talker and the showman vs. Aldo the reserved killer.
The best part of this? The fight itself could be even better.
Each man has been all but perfect during his respective stay under the UFC banner. McGregor is 5-0 in the Octagon with four stoppages. Aldo is 7-0 with all seven victories coming against the top contender to his strap.
Save for a close call against Chad Mendes in Aldo’s most recent defense at UFC 179, no man has even come close to cracking the featherweight king’s armor.
With McGregor‘s polished, powerful striking and unwavering confidence, however, Aldo may have met his match. The Brazilian superstar has long been considered the best striker in the featherweight division, but McGregor is doing his best to claim that crown—and the shiny golden belt that goes with it—for his own.
On July 11, we’ll see if he can do just that.
Who do you favor heading into this bout? Will the champ reign supreme, or is McGregor the man to disrupt his stellar run atop the featherweight mountain?
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