Dublin West

So I watched UFC Fight Night Boston last night.  Now i'm not normally one to watch UFC anymore.  I'm not a fan of Dana, nor am I a fan of how the organization treats their fighters but the whole Irish card had me fired up.  

Paddy Holohan came out and put on a dominating performance against Shane Howell. Holohan had his back multiple times with chokes sunk in and pretty much controlled the whole fight.  How he didn't get the submission is beyond me.

Cathal Pendred (or Karl Pendred according to Mike "didn't do my homework" Goldberg) faced off against Sean Spencer.  Cathal looked a step slow and was getting tagged as he should have been by Spencer who is a former Golden Gloves champion.  Pendred had a few takedowns, but Spencer scored a knockdown in the first and pretty much out boxed Pendred the rest of the night.  Cathal did have a chance to use his Jiu-Jitsu when he attempted a mounted kimura, but then went for the leg scissor choke but didn't get it.  Surprisingly...Cathal won the fight somehow.  

Side note...not to beat a dead horse they (commissions) really have to get people who at least train in a martial art to work as judges.  They also should try to come up with something better then the 10 point must system in place now.  There is too much money involved now to keep having egregious scoring errors like on Sunday.

McGregor hyped this fight like he was a used car salesman.  He talked a ton per usual, and per usual came in and dominated.  Siver looked out of his element.  He was fast but not as fast as Conor, he was too small and didn't have the range to deal with McGregor's length and when Siver did go for a takedown, McGregor was a step ahead of him and able to escape.  So far McGregor has done what he was supposed to do against these guys who have slowly been increasing in ability. He hasn't lost a round on a card in the UFC and has 4 TKO's and 1 unanimous decision.

With the win against Siver, McGregor is scheduled to face champ Jose Aldo who will present him with a much different challenge.  Two things jump out at me right away:

Experience.  Jose has 26 fights, with some top level competition and a championship belt.  He knows how to win and to be a champion.

Size.  Conor will again enjoy a significant size advantage (length, reach and height).  He seems to be able to put his freakish athletic ability and size to great use.

Can Aldo close the distance?  Will he be able to successfully take down McGregor?  Will Conor be able to use his length and athletic ability to his advantage?  Which man is hungrier?  Let the pundits on the internet, and ESPN start talking.  UFC 187