Aldo vs. McGregor set for UFC 194 in Las Vegas on Dec. 12
The highly anticipated featherweight unification bout between Jose Aldo and Conor McGregor is finally set for UFC 194 on Dec. 12 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
UFC president Dana White confirmed the news on Monday in an interview with Yahoo! Sports.
According to White, the promotion explored the option to put the fight at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas after the MGM was not available on the proposed date of Dec. 5 thanks to a previously scheduled Andrea Bocelli concert.
Officials at the MGM Grand “moved heaven and Earth” according to White to make sure the arena was available for Dec. 12 so the UFC opted to put the Aldo vs. McGregor fight there instead.
The other benefit moving the fight to Dec. 12 is UFC 194 won’t go head-to-head with any other major sports events happening that day.
With Aldo vs. McGregor now set for Dec. 12 in Las Vegas, that means the other fight rumored for the same card — a women’s bantamweight title fight between Ronda Rousey and Miesha Tate — will shift to a different show likely in early 2016.
Aldo vs. McGregor is already expected to be one of the biggest cards of the year and Rousey has proven to be a massive draw for the UFC whenever she competes. Keeping the two biggest UFC superstars on the same card was likely the ticket needed to sell upwards of 100,000 seats if the organization actually did a show at the home of the Dallas Cowboys.
Now that it’s no longer a reality, McGregor can face Aldo in Las Vegas while Rousey will get her third fight with Tate on a later date.
“That fight isn’t going to be on the (Aldo vs. McGregor) card, for sure,” White said about Rousey vs. Tate 3. “If we were going to go to Dallas Cowboys’ stadium, that’s another story, but the MGM really wanted the fight and they made a huge effort for it and they got it.
“And it works out better for us to be in Las Vegas.”
So let the promotion officially begin for the long awaited title fight grudge match as Aldo faces McGregor with the winner walking out as the undisputed featherweight champion of the world.