The UFC have officially confirmed that the blockbuster featherweight title unification bout between Jose Aldo and Conor McGregor will take place in Las Vegas at the MGM Grand Garden arena on December 12th.
There had been a lot of talk that the fight was going to take place at the 100,000 seater Dallas Cowboys stadium in Texas which would have been quite a spectacle, but it’s believed that the MGM made a big offer to keep the ‘Fight Of The Year’ in Las Vegas which convinced the UFC to stay in the fight capital.
Aldo Vs McGregor was originally supposed to take place at UFC 189 last month after a blaze of publicity and genuine animosity between the two fighters, but Aldo suffered a broken rib in training and had to pull out of the fight with less than two weeks to go.
Chad Mendes stepped in to replace him on short notice and had McGregor in trouble in the early stages of the fight with his superior wrestling, but McGregor rose to his feet late in the second round and stopped his opponent with strikes to win the interim title.
While he’s never said so publicly, Aldo no doubt breathed a huge sigh of relief at that stage as it ensured that he’s still on course for by far the biggest payday of his career with pay-per-view sales predicted to break the one million barrier.
No other fights have so far been announced for the event, which is expected to serve as the UFC 194 headliner, though Dana White has confirmed that Ronda Rousey Vs Miesha Tate III won’t be on the card.
