Repeatedly touted as the year’s biggest fight, the night will be headlined by champion José Aldo, who is dead set on keeping his title. The undisputed featherweight king will be facing the self-proclaimed "truth-talking" interim champion Conor McGregor.
The long-overdue grudge match is set to take place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in the sin city of Las Vegas, Nevada.
An odd sense of calmness was in the air during the pre-fight press conference on Wednesday afternoon (Thursday morning in Manila). No provoking antics were pulled, no word of trash talk was uttered. McGregor, however, did exude a quiet air of confidence this time around, a “state of zen” as he described it.
And like in previous media obligations, “The Notorious” displayed the same candor when asked about his personal prediction.
“I feel, within four minutes, the shots would have landed,” McGregor said. “It’s on him after that. I feel anything after that four-minute mark of the first round will be a formality. It will be on him, where he is mentally, where he is physically, and how much he truly wants this.”
“I see him crumbling towards the end of the first. Or not answering the bell for the second. But it will be wrapped up inside one,” he adds.
Aldo and McGregor were originally slated to face each other last July at UFC 189, but a rib injury on the Brazilian champion forced him out of the contest. Now that everything seems to be going smoothly within a mere three days before fight night, the brash Irishman is confident that a new featherweight reign will take over after December 12.
“This one will be a spectacle. This one will be a master class,” McGregor said. “This one will be the changing of the guard. Me bringing in a new era, in fighting, in approach, in everything.”
“I am a man with something to prove. And a man with something to prove is a dangerous individual. But at the same time, I am calm. I will go in calm, dangerous, and look to show the world the new age.”
source: www.abs-cbnnews.com
