The huge ten-city UFC189 world tour featuring UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo and challenger Conor McGregor is over and has delivered quite a few scenes, including ones where the brash Irishman provoked the stoic Aldo up to a point where even the calmest individual would have exploded in a rage.
Chad Mendes, who has been on the receiving end of some verbal jabs from McGregor in the past, watched the Embedded tour video blog very closely and suggested that if he was Aldo, he would have lost his temper with McGregor. Especially in a situation like a challenger stealing the belt of the champion, which happened on two separate occasions.
“You don’t touch somebody else’s belt – that’s their belt,” Mendes said. “If I was Aldo, I would have punched him right in the f-cking face. I don’t know. Aldo played it off. Honestly, I feel bad for Aldo having to do all that stuff with that moron. The guy’s got to just be the most annoying person to do a media tour with. It sucks for him.”
Aldo, the pound-for-pound No. 2 ranked fighter in the world, dealt with McGregor’s antics like a professional and stayed calm and composed throughout. Many felt that the Irishman has gotten under his skin, though, and that could be a deciding factor in their fight. Mendes, however, doesn’t think so:
“Aldo’s a champion and has been a champion for a long time,” Mendes said. “He’s got that champion mentality. You’re not going to shake a guy like that by talking sh-t to him. The guy has been in the sport for a long time and he’s seen guys like McGregor. I don’t think anything like that is going to dictate how the fight goes.”
Mendes has already lost to Aldo in two UFC title opportunities and knows the champion well. He feels that against McGregor, the Brazilian standout will collect his 19th win in a row and move on.
“In my opinion, breaking down the fight, I see Aldo winning the fight,” Mendes told MMAjunkie. “I could see McGregor giving Aldo some issues. Aldo has had some issues with southpaws in the past, but he always seems to figure them out. One thing Conor does really good is using his range. He’s very lengthy and he punches well and keeps on the outside. That could be a problem for Aldo. But, McGregor keeps his stance very wide. Aldo has some of the best, or the best leg kicks in the sport. He’s going to eat that leg up if McGregor doesn’t check his kicks. […] (McGregor’s) always talking about being fluid and movement, but in every fight I’ve seen he doesn’t seem to move his feet very much. We’ll see. I’m actually pretty excited about this fight.”
Jose Aldo and Conor McGregor are going to fight in the main event of UFC 189, on July 11, in Las Vegas, NV. Chad Mendes is expected to face Ricardo Lamas at UFC Fight Night 63 on April 4.
(Transcription via MMA Junkie)