The casuals won’t admit it, but Aldo vs McGregor was awesome

Published by
Dan Nichols

This past Saturday evening's monster UFC 194 event set all sorts of records and created plenty of history.

For the first time in UFC history we have a featherweight champion whose name is not Jose Aldo.

The new champion, Irish hero Conor McGregor dethroned the previous pound for pound king in 13 seconds, which set a new record for the fastest title fight in the organisation's history.

McGregor's disposal of the future hall of fame bound Aldo beat Ronda Rousey's 14 second destruction of Cat Zingano at UFC 184.

UFC 194 was arguably the most hyped card since UFC 100 with the organisation's new superstar Conor McGregor selling hundreds of thousands of pay-per-views to casual fans through a mixture of trash talk and likable antics.

With hundreds of thousands of casual fans, i.e. fans who do not follow the sport of MMA regularly, tuning in for the super fight, there was always going to be plenty of social media fall out.

The post UFC 194 fall out has produced a whole new level of social media craziness.

From fans claiming a conspiracy, to accusing the UFC of ripping them off, we have seen it all.

Some fans have claimed Jose Aldo took a dive to ensure the UFC's biggest star continued his astronomical rise to the top.

If Aldo took a dive, he's the world's most premier actor as he sure sold that knockout punch well.

There is absolutely ZERO chance Aldo took a dive. He rushed in, got caught, and went down. In a fight, it happens.

McGregor's perfectly timed left hand landed perfectly on the button and separated Aldo from his consciousness.

The two hammer fists he landed before the fight was stopped were a mere formality.

Despite the rapidness of the finish, this fight was in no way a “rip off” as some casual fans will have you believe.

These were the two best featherweights in the modern era clashing for the most prized title in the division.

In Aldo's case, he is THE best featherweight in the history of the sport. That has not changed despite surrendering his title to McGregor.

Until his loss, which came after more than a year out through injury, Aldo was the undisputed pound for pound king of the sport. For those not in the know, he was regarded as the best fighter on the planet across any division.

Having not lost in ten years, Aldo came in with plenty of confidence. McGregor, who himself has been on a 14 fight win streak, hardly struggled with confidence either.

Aldo was the UFC champion, McGregor the interim champion.

The hype for this fight was unparalleled, the atmosphere even better.

Everything on the night was enjoyable, from the entertaining undercard, to the pageantry of the event as a whole.

Anyone who purchased the pay-per-view just for the “bell to bell” action in the main event fight runs a risk of “being ripped off”.

These are world-class, elite superstar athletes who spend years and months training to inflict their will on their opponent.

When you're dealing with these kinds of supremely trained weapons, fights can end in an instant.

Mike Tyson ended fights well within the scheduled rounds many times, yet no one ever accused Tyson of being boring, or ripping them off their PPV dollars.

There's a reason main event fights end quickly sometimes. At this level, one punch is sometimes all it takes.

When you pay for an event of this magnitude, you pay for the event, not the thirteen second main event.

You pay for the under card, the lights, the crowd, the atmosphere, the pageantry.

That is exactly what we got on Saturday evening, and then some.

The pre-match promo videos were spine tingling. The footage of the two main event fighters traveling the world hyping this fight made hair stand on the back of your neck.

The noise the predominantly McGregor supporting crowd made when their man walked into the stadium caused an adrenaline rush like no other.

The feeling in my stomach when Aldo entered the cage and stood across from McGregor is unmatched in any other sport other than combat sport.

Two men, two warriors, going one on one having talked up the fight in a huge way. There is nothing like it.

Sometimes the fights end in 13 seconds.

We were neither ripped off nor we were privy to a conspiracy.

The better fighter won on the night and set all sorts of records in the process.

I loved every second of the UFC 194 event, especially its main event.

All 13 seconds of it.

Published by
Dan Nichols