A Contrast in Contortions at UFC 194's Open Workouts

Jose Aldo entered the MGM Grand Garden Arena today as the majority of fans were still making their way into the arena. Brazilian fans sitting to the left of the stage gave the featherweight kingpin a decent ovation while the arriving Irish fans voiced their discontent for their man's opponent.

Aldo was methodical as he warmed up. Basic stretches began his performance before Nova Uniao head coach Andre Pederneiras joined his product on the matted area to throw a variety of punches as one of the greatest leg kickers in the history of MMA, Pedro Rizzo, watched on in the background.

The leg kicks of Aldo have been the most talked about element of the champion's attack, but strangely, the audience did not get a chance to see the technique executed during the workout. Instead Aldo threw basic combinations, a stiff jab followed by a straight. Then he threw isolated power shots, a left hook, a right uppercut. The dance with Pederneiras got faster and faster with the champion throwing more flurries to the point that the spectacle produced cheers from the crowd.

A Conor McGregor lookalike heckled Aldo throughout his workout. Shifting his mouth into the manic 'Notorious' smile, the man who turned out to be Australian shouted the infamous Brazilian chant, "HOO - VAI MORRER" as he tried to get a reaction from him.

When the workout was finished, Aldo seemed very relaxed as he sat down with his legs crossed to field questions from the media. As he tried to answer the queries the media, Aldo was forced to stop on as the Irish chorus interrupted with their 'Ole, Ole, Ole' chant.

When the translator eventually read out Aldo's sentiments, the crowd fell silent as he promised that he could beat McGregor in every aspect of the game.

"Whatever he says is in the past, everything that he says and everything that he's done, I don't care. On our feet, I will knock him out. On the ground, I will submit him. I don't care. Wherever the fight goes I'm gonna end this fight."

Despite this being one of the most eagerly anticipated fights of Aldo's career, he was adamant that is used to big fights from the battles he has contested throughout his career have prepared him for the magnitude of the UFC 194 main event.

"I've always been involved in big fights. My first fight in the UFC was in front of 50,000 people. I always want to be involved in fights like these.

"It's a great event and it's a great fight. I think we're going to be able to break a lot of records and make a lot of money. Wherever the fight goes, I'm going to end this fight."

While Aldo's entrance was somewhat understated, as soon as the sound of the uilleann pipes hit the speakers, crowds gathered at the boundary where McGregor was set to make his entrance. Although the crowd were forced to wait a further five minutes for McGregor, he eventually made his way to the stage, which triggered another rendition of 'Ole, Ole, Ole' from the crowd.

Joining McGregor on stage, Ido Portal gave us an incite into his "movement culture." Standing in front of each other, they moved like snakes before they began to dance rhythmically, stepping in and out of each other's range.

Adequately warmed up, McGregor's striking coach Owen Roddy got involved and 'The Notorious' wasted no time in throwing his patented spinning back kick to the body of 'Rowdy'. Roddy winced behind his body pad each time the shot landed and given that Aldo pulled out of his first date with McGregor due to a broken rib, the technique could prove to be an effective one should he land it on the Brazilian on Saturday.

After a quick break for some water, McGregor launched into his exchanges with Roddy again and the striking coach might have got a bit more than he bargained for when 'The Notorious' spun through the are and caught him with a head kick. A quick smile and a fist bump let us know Roddy was alright and they launched into their routine again.

McGregor looked very slick in his exchanges with Roddy, and when the former featherweight champion left the mat, once again Portal came to the forefront to put on an even more elaborate display than the first.

Producing a long stick, Portal slowly brought the wooden meter towards McGregor who evaded the oncoming equipment with a series of unorthodox movements–ducking, hopping, crawling, cartwheeling and hand standing–the whole interaction was like nothing the gathered media or fans had ever seen before. On press row, some of the media members looked around in bewilderment, but McGregor wore a big smile on his face as he was clearly enjoying his workout with the movement pioneer.

Once again, McGregor outlined his belief that Aldo does not want to fight him when he took some questions from the media.

"I feel that he feels like he is handcuffed and forced into this. He doesn't want to be there. He's forced. The man is forced to do this. When I look into his eyes he's confused, he doesn't know where he is. He cannot wait for this to be over."