Conor McGregor's bravado includes comparing upcoming fight to Mayweather-Pacquiao

LAS VEGAS – Fed a series of predictable, softball and occasionally inane questions Monday during the second stop of an eight-city, five-country tour to promote their July 11 bout in the main event of UFC 189 at the MGM Grand Garden for the featherweight title, champion Jose Aldo and Conor McGregor reacted quite predictably.

Aldo, who met the media first in a conference room at the Red Rock Resort on Monday, seemed largely bored by the entire thing. He said little of note other than to admit he supports the UFC's new drug-testing plans and that he pays little attention to McGregor's antics.

Meanwhile, the Irishman said that after meeting the Brazilian face-to-face last week, he's convinced Aldo is afraid.

"Fear has a strong stench, and he is reeking of it," McGregor said. "I see fear. [His eyes looked like] glass."

The goal of the news conference, of course, was to jump start ticket sales and get the drums beating for the pay-per-view.

Of course, if you listen to the brash and frequently over-the-top McGregor, there is no need to worry about ticket sales. McGregor laughably predicted that the pay-per-view sales would come close to the record total expected to be sold for the Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao boxing match.

Given the strong Brazilian fan base that is sure to descend upon Las Vegas to support Aldo, and the passionate Irish fan base that travels with McGregor, there is little question that there will be a wild scene inside the Grand Garden on that summer night.

"The Brazilians won't even be heard," McGregor said, chuckling. "The Irish will flock on the fight capital, and everyone who gets off that plane will be ready to fight, not just me. I don't think the beautiful city of Las Vegas knows what it's in for."

In a way, Aldo has no clue what he's in for. Never before has he faced such a man as McGregor, one who is quick-witted and meticulous in the way he approaches his marketing and media responsibilities.

McGregor not only pressures his opponent during the fight, but also during the buildup. Not all fighters can handle that, and many have wilted under it.

"When you sign up to fight me, it's a whole different ball game," McGregor said. "It's that simple. It's a whole different ball game. It just swarms people and they start shrinking in their seats. Their eyes start watering. Their bottom lip starts quivering. They're fighting McGregor now. Definitely. I feel they crumble every time."

But in that same way, McGregor may have no clue what he's in for when the talking is done, the cage door shuts and the fight begins.

Aldo is one of the greatest fighters in the history of the sport. Every other division has a different champion than existed when he was awarded the UFC featherweight belt when the old World Extreme Cagefighting organization disbanded and was merged into the UFC.

Only Aldo has remained champion, and he's done it in amazingly one-sided fashion. While he hasn't been nearly as jaw-dropping as he was in his WEC days, he's been just as successful.

He's won 18 in a row overall, 15 in WEC/UFC combined and seven in a row in the UFC. None of those fights were even remotely close.

He's fast, strong, powerful and as well-rounded as any fighter in the sport's history.

While McGregor has been exceptionally impressive in his short UFC run, he hasn't come anywhere close to regularly facing the kind of opposition that Aldo has routed.

"He's all talk," Aldo said, dismissively, of McGregor. "Just a mouth."

And so a lot of what the fight boils down to is whether McGregor is talented enough to fight at the absolute highest level and whether Aldo can keep his cool to remain focused on his gameplan.

Aldo seemed to come unraveled a bit at an introductory news conference in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, last week, when he stormed out after being introduced and made an obscene gesture at McGregor.

That would suggest that McGregor's never-ending mind games might have worked, because Aldo reacted in a way he never has previously.

But he said that his coach, Andre "Dede" Pederneiras, encouraged him to be more flamboyant to try to promote more.

"I just wanted to do something for the fans," Aldo said.

The best each of them can do for their fans, of course, is to be at their absolute best on fight night and put on a memorable show.

McGregor won this stop in the journey by easy knockout, though that was hardly unexpected. Aldo doesn't speak English and isn't a trash talker under the best of circumstances.

There are going to be a lot more staredowns – stops in Los Angeles, Boston, New York, Toronto, London and Dublin are still to come on the tour – so they'll get a chance to take the measure of each other quite a few more times.

Many words will be spoken and written about the fight that UFC president Dana White believes is the most highly anticipated one currently on the schedule.

It's going to be up to them to deliver once the bell rings, but things are off to a good start, without a doubt.