UFC 194 Conor McGregor vs. Jose Aldo Prediction and Odds
Jose Aldo and Conor McGregor headline Saturday’s UFC 194 with a Featherweight title fight.
It was Tom Petty who said the waiting is the hardest part and while he and the Heartbreakers probably don’t have a dog in the UFC 194 main event, that tune will ring especially true when Conor McGregor and Jose Aldo finally meet in the octagon Saturday night to unify the Ultimate Fighting Championship Featherweight title.
Conor McGregor vs. Jose Aldo
The waiting has been the hardest part – not just for these fighters, but for MMA fans, too. Yes, while the world-wide press tour was unprecedented for the sport and we’ve happily collected more Conor McGregor quotes than probably necessary along the way, this matchup has been almost a year in the making. That’s an eternity in the fight world.
So the hype crescendo for this fight is now nearing a red-line static buzz in Las Vegas, humming over the slot machines, microphones, and sound bites during the UFC’s three-day, fight-filled, extravaganza. The Ultimate Fighting Championship has miraculously dodged injury bullets and will roll out the best card of the year with McGregor and Aldo as the cherry on top.
But what if it doesn’t play out that way? Fight fans are conditioned to fear the worst because more often than not, fight cards that look too good to be true often end up being just that. In this business, the “what ifs” are everything. It’s all so unpredictable.
What if the whole card is a decision-filled flop? What if, after the main event, it’s the judges standing in the spotlight leaving unfinished business between McGregor and Aldo?
What if Jose Aldo doesn’t even show up?
He’s already pulled out of five fights in his career, including the first scheduled date between these two in July. It’s a fair question and right now odds of him not even making the walk are at 6-1. If we’ve learned anything over the last 42 weeks it’s that you’d better expect the unexpected – the only thing that has remained predictable about this fight is its unpredictability.
UFC 194 Odds
That’s why even though McGregor has dropped from a -160 favourite to -120 in UFC 194 odds, the Irishman remains the better bet.
*UPDATE: Jose Aldo is now a -130 favourite with McGregor at +100.*
That’s not a slight against Aldo’s ability in the least. Truthfully, he should have been the favourite in this bout from the outset, but odds often run in harmony with public popularity. That’s why he was a bargain shortly after pulling out of UFC 189.
While ring rust and a track record of nasty battles might be pulling on Aldo’s cape, now the main event’s odds have come back to reality and that reality is this is anyone’s fight. In Aldo’s corner are a decade-long winning streak, a superior ground game, and experience in five-round fights. In McGregor’s corner are his size, iron chin, and unmatched power in the Featherweight division.
You can weigh those attributes out as you see fit, but in a fight like this unpredictability is everything. That is where McGregor has the edge. Jose Aldo has never seen a fighter like McGregor because, well, nobody has.
For better or worse, McGregor fights like no other fighter on the planet. He prepares differently. He moves differently. He attacks differently both inside the octagon and out of it. His secret weapon is just that – the secret of the unknown and unexpected.
UFC 194 Prediction
Maybe Aldo comes out and kicks the leg and takes McGregor down to work the ground game. That’s certainly possible, some would argue very likely. Maybe he uses his explosive speed to finally put McGregor on his back foot for once as he drags him into deep water in the Championship Rounds – very possible as well. The thing is, none of that will surprise anyone.
But what if McGregor fights Aldo in a way we’ve never seen before? That’s also very possible. See, that’s the beauty of it, really – as much as everybody tells you what’s going to happen, nobody knows with the complexity of this fight.
In the end, it’s all impossibly unpredictable, something McGregor has up his sleeve in spades. That’s why he’ll win this fight by TKO and be named the new unified UFC Featherweight Champion.
