Conor McGregor (credit: Buda Mendes/Getty Images)UFC 194 takes place tonight, headlined by Conor McGregor vs. Jose Aldo.
UFC 194, which takes place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, airs live in the United Kingdom on BT Sport 2/BT Sport 2 HD, with coverage of the prelims starting at 01:00 GMT ahead of the main card going live at 03:00 GMT.
In the United States, UFC 194 airs live on pay-per-view.
Preview:
The hottest MMA card of the year has arrived as Chris Weidman defends his UFC middleweight world title against Luke Rockhold in the supporting bout for the main event between featherweight king Aldo and challenger McGregor.
Aldo and McGregor were due to trade heavy leather earlier in the year but the champion withdrew from the contest citing a rib injury. McGregor used the situation to his advantage, claimed the Brazilian was scared and instead competed against Chad Mendes for the interim version of the 145lb title at UFC 189.
Mendes, an accomplished collegiate wrestler, was expected to present problems to a fighter whose takedown defense had been questioned. McGregor, though, answered his critics by scoring a technical knockout over the Team Alpha Male athlete in round two.
The victory only heightened interest in Aldo v McGregor.
Jose Aldo (R) (Photo by Buda Mendes/Getty Images)
The 29-year-old, who has a base in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu but relies on his striking skills, is the first and only featherweight champion in the UFC and unbeaten in over a decade. He is the consensus pound-for-pound don, a human highlight-reel thanks to his use of the fence and has defeated a who’s-who in the division.
None of that fazes McGregor and the motor-mouth Irishman is even favourite with the bookmakers. He is younger than Aldo, who is perhaps older than his years thanks to all his cage wars. Could there be a changing of the guard at UFC 194?
Preceding the highly-anticipated Aldo v McGregor fight is Chris Weidman’s defense of the middleweight belt against game fighter Luke Rockhold.
Weidman, the All-American, has attracted a new nickname – the Brazilian killer – thanks to his back-to-back victories over hall-of-fame lock Anderson Silva, followed by a decision triumph over Lyoto Machida. One further win as champ, over Vitor Belfort, leads Weidman into the Rockhold bout.
If Weidman had the ‘mic-skills’ of McGregor, he’d be world renowned. But Weidman cruelly operates in the shadows, where his extraordinary skillset often goes unpraised in the mass media market.
His reign at the top of his weight-class has mostly been against older fighters (Silva; 40, Machida; 37 and Belfort; 38) but against Rockhold he takes on one of the sport’s most gifted athletes.
Weidman will have to be wary of Rockhold’s stand-up – his kicks are fierce. And he is adept at the grappling side of the business. Weidman, in contrast, is a pure wrestler.
This bout could steal the show, and a win for either fighter will transport them into the foreground of the UFC.
