At UFC Fight Night 59, Conor McGregor realized his dream of having the opportunity to face the division’s featherweight champion by knocking out his German adversary, Dennis Siver.
The fight between the two contenders was greatly one-sided. McGregor kept Siver at the end of his punches, accumulating 64 significant strikes on his way to finishing Siver at one minute, 54 seconds of the second round. Despite not finishing his opponent in two minutes of the first round, as previously predicted by McGregor, his win proved to be a dominant one.
Immediately after the stoppage, the Irishman leaped over the Octagon and raced toward the 145-pound champion, who sat in attendance. The two athletes were met by security, separating a smiling Aldo and a seemingly enraged McGregor.
Upon returning to the Octagon, during his post-fight interview with color commentator Joe Rogan, McGregor set his sights on the inevitable matchup between him and Aldo.
He stated ( per Yahoo! Sports ), “I’m going to hand him my spit bucket, and then stand back and wait for him to spit shine the belt so it’s ready for me to take it.”
However, Aldo remained unfazed when asked about McGregor’s antics.
At the same time, McGregor’s charge toward Aldo and their anticipated championship matchup lit up the world of mixed martial arts.
Irrespective of their feelings toward one another, Aldo and McGregor are set to face off for the championship title, which, according to UFC president Dana White, will occur in Las Vegas this May. At the post-fight conference , he gave light to reasons for which the championship matchup would not occur at Croke Park in Ireland, which seats over 82,000 people .
“There’s [ sic ] a lot of obstacles for Croke Park. The time. They have a curfew at night where you can’t get permits to stay out that late and do an event there. You lose about 25-30 percent on pay-per-view being in another country. The amount of money in production for Croke Park. I can guarantee you it’s gonna rain. I’m not a meteorologist, but I’ll bet you it’s gonna rain. I’m not saying we’re never gonna do it, but [it’s] Vegas for this one.”
Regardless of where McGregor and the champion face off, however, their similar fighting styles and the hype surrounding this matchup are sure to generate great profits for the UFC and excitement for MMA fans from Ireland to Brazil.
[Featured Image Courtesy of Gregory Payan/Associated Press]
