Jose Aldo is set to defend his title against Conor McGregor, whom many see as Aldo’s toughest challenge to date. McGregor has been dominant in all of his UFC fights. He is 5-0 in his young UFC career and 17-2 overall. The Featherweight has finished four of his five opponents in the octagon by way of TKO.
Despite his dominance, he has been one of the most polarizing figures in MMA today. The Irishman is known to talk with a lot of “confidence” heading into each and every one of his bouts. His last opponent, Dennis Siver, experienced the same treatment.
“He’s muscular but he’s really small,” McGregor said of Siver. “He’s a weird looking, deformed looking guy. He was caught cheating at one stage in his career.”
McGregor would go on to TKO Dennis Siver in the 2nd round earlier this year in Boston. McGregor has also taken jabs at his upcoming opponent Jose Aldo and has predicted that he will knockout the Brazilian in the first round.
In the midst of all the trash talk McGregor has compiled, his fighting game and unique style should be much more appreciated.
Conor McGregor’s forte is his standup with boxing, karate, and capoeira backgrounds. The 26-year-old has been able to blend and utilize these arts to create a unique style that has never before been seen in the Featherweight Division.
McGregor is a southpaw and his stance makes it awkward and difficult for opponents to create distance. He stands like a karate practitioner would but throws his punches and kicks like a boxer.
Being in the southpaw stance, McGregor’s left hand is his power punch and it has dropped the likes of Dustin Poirier and Diego Brandao. But the one unique thing that has opened the eyes of many MMA analysts is the way he throws his cross. McGregor throws his cross like a jab and a fighter similar to this certain style is none other than Muhammad Ali. Ali was famous for using his power hand as a jab that would disrupt the timing and angling of opponents. McGregor is no different.
McGregor first showed how troublesome his left hand can be in his UFC debut against Marcus Brimage. He would lead combos with his left hands that varied from uppercuts to hooks that eventually bested Brimage at 1:07 of the first round. He showed it again against Dustin Poirier throwing a left hook with not a lot of movement but enough to drop his opponent. So make no mistake, McGregor’s left hand is one of the most dangerous punches in MMA.
But let’s not forget Conor McGregor’s takedown defense. McGregor has a 100% takedown defense inside the Octagon. He was awarded his brown belt in Brazilian JiuJitsu and has earned the respect of grappling legends like Eddie Bravo. He was slated to appear in the IBJJF competitions but had to refocus all his time to UFC 189.
Jose Aldo will have a monumental task ahead of him at UFC 189 when he faces a fighter that has a two-inch height and four-inch reach advantage. McGregor’s unique style of fighting could give Aldo trouble on July 11th, when McGregor will seek to overthrow the Brazilian pound-for-pound king.
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