UFC President Dana White is confident that Conor McGregor's title shot against reigning UFC Featherweight Champion Jose Aldo can be considered the fight of the year.
White reportedly gave a wide-ranging interview to Setanta Sports where he opened up about many interesting topics with presenter Fergus Ryan. Among many other things, White stated that the UFC has still got its sights set on a record-breaking event at Croke Park, according to The42.
The UFC boss confirmed that if Conor McGregor defeats the current UFC Featherweight Champion, Jose Aldo, in the featherweight world title bout, the UFC will aim to have McGregor defend the belt at the GAA headquarters.
"We want to do Croke Park, we really do. If this kid [McGregor] wins that title, we want his first defence to be in Croke Park," he said.
It looks like UFC is building its entire year around Conor McGregor's July 12 title shot against UFC Featherweight Champion José Aldo in Las Vegas.
Dana White joined 710 ESPN Seattle's Bob Stelton on "Get in the Cage" April 17 and told him there's only one bout that can be considered the "fight of the year" and that's Jose Aldo Vs Conor McGregor.
Aldo, who has defended his title eight times, hasn't lost a fight in 10 years, while the Dubliner burst onto the scene, becoming a huge superstar by knocking fighters out and even picking the round in which he will knock them out. White is positive that the fight is going to be massive, MyNorthWest noted.
White joined the UFC combatants in an ambitious promotional tour that drew huge crowds to see the heated encounter between Aldo and McGregor in their home countries. An episode of the UFC Embedded web series that documented one of the combative press conferences picked up a whopping 9 million views, according to White.
Huge numbers for the Aldo-McGregor clash are obviously expected. However, the event still has its share of critics who claim McGregor just talked his way into the title shot instead of earning it with his record. White, however, reportedly doesn't see it that way.
Pointing to the fact that he knocked out the No. 6 ranked guy in the world, Dustin Poirier, White said, "I think that Conor McGregor, not only does he talk well, he fights pretty damn well, too."
Jose Aldo, on the other hand, has already defeated guys who are one through five. In fact, he has beaten some of them twice. Thus, the Aldo-McGregor fight makes the most sense, White noted. In addition, it also makes plenty of business sense considering the reaction the tour and Embedded episode brought out.
White said people want to see the Aldo-McGregor fight and "UFC makes fights that people want to see."
Do you think Jose Aldo will be able to defend his title against The Celtic Tiger? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
