When a legend speaks, you listen
It’s almost a full week now since we had the whole UFC circus on our shores with Jose Aldo and Conor McGregor finishing off their world tour in Dublin.
The two featherweights are now back in training after doing their best to stir up a hell of a lot of emotion and crowd intensity ahead of their July 11 clash in Las Vegas.
The tour had some memorable moments but by far the most controversial was when McGregor grabbed Aldo’s belt at the press event in Dublin last week. Some felt it was a ballsy move while others thought it showed disrespect.
The dramatic moment came after weeks of backbiting between both fighters as McGregor baited the Brazilian with various comments on the tour.
It’s something that MMA legend George St-Pierre isn’t sure will be the wisest course of action. He’s been speaking to Chael Sonnen on his MMA podcast.
“Oh my God it was crazy. Conor McGregor could be smart or really dumb, it depends. I think Conor McGregor is very skilled and can back up what he says. But what could be the strategy for Conor in this situation.”
The Canadian thinks that McGregor may be trying to unsettle the Brazilian by following the example of Chael Sonnen when he fought Anderson Silva a number of years ago. GSP thinks the Dubliner is looking to undermine the champion at every opportunity and turn the tables psychologically
“It’s a little like when you (Chael Sonnen) fought Anderson Silva. When you fight a guy and you put an aura of invincibility around him it affects you mentally. And you break that by saying you don’t care, that you’re going to beat him and no-one has ever done that. I think Conor McGregor is trying to do something similar to what you did when fighting Anderson Silva.
“Jose Aldo is a very flamboyant fighter. He’s very dangerous and he has that aura and is the best pound-for-pound in the world right now. I think Conor Mcgregor is trying to play that game you know and get into his head. Maybe its going to work and we’ll see whats going to happen.”
Sonnen then questions who McGregor is sparring with and training with in Ireland that could come to match the intensity of facing Aldo in July. He cites a lack of well known boxers and wrestlers and fighters as proof that McGregor doesn’t have the experience to compete with Aldo.
However GSP disagrees:
“That doesn’t mean nothing. I’ll give you an example. When I first beat Matthews I didn’t have any well known training partners. I’ve trained with a lot of guys that in training are not very good but when they fight I’m amazed that they are much better. That’s because they have confidence and they believe 100% in a technique.”
You can hear the full chat here from around 24 minutes onwards…
