Brazilian favoured over Irishman
Thursday 16 July 2015 11:38, UK
Conor McGregor will be defeated in his UFC championship fight by Jose Aldo, agree his potential future opponents Frankie Edgar and Urijah Faber.
UFC poster boy McGregor won the interim featherweight title against Chad Mendes after Aldo withdrew from their scheduled fight, setting up a blockbuster unification scrap. Sky Sports asked Edgar and Faber if the Irishman can strike gold on his big night.
Edgar defeated Faber in May but, before they fought, they discussed McGregor v Aldo with us.
Edgar said: It will be a seminal fight for Conor. Jose has the type of style that Conor could excel against. But I have to side with the champion because he’s been fighting at the highest level for so long. I’m not sure if Conor has fought someone like Jose yet.
Conor is very good with his stand-up fighting - he’s very unpredictable and relaxed. I wouldn’t be surprised if Conor wins because there’s still so much that’s unknown about him. Maybe he is the Second Coming like he’s been telling everyone!
It will be a seminal fight for Conor. Jose has the type of style that Conor could excel against. But I have to side with the champion because he’s been fighting at the highest level for so long.
I don’t get caught up in the attention around McGregor. Is he skilful? Yes. Does he bring attention to the rest of us? Yes. But he’s not always respectful.
There was some disappointment at first that Conor got a title shot before me but I expected it because of the hype around him. He’s had everything handed to him to make sure he got the chance to fight for the belt.
But based on what we know, I’d pick Aldo to beat McGregor.
Faber said: We know that Conor has lost twice by submission earlier in his career. He was willing to give up twice, we know that. He tapped out to a choke and a knee hold, which is a move where you give up before it becomes a problem because you’re anticipating pain. I’ve seen that he is capable of giving up and I’ve proved that I am certainly not.
McGregor tapped out to a choke and a knee hold, which is a move where you give up before it becomes a problem because you’re anticipating pain. I’ve seen that he is capable of giving up.
Aldo has the advantage, he will win. I’m not sure if he’ll breeze past McGregor but he’ll win.
Conor brings a very strong offence when it comes to striking and he seems to be versatile on the ground although we haven’t seen much of that which makes him a mystery. I want to be in the big fights for the rest of my career so if they could match me up with McGregor then I’d love that.
