UFC 194: Fight Night Bonus Predictions for Aldo vs. McGregor Fight Card

A battle between Jose Aldo and Conor McGregor to crown the undisputed king of the featherweight division is the headline bout of UFC 194 on Saturday night. The anticipated clash has generated plenty of hype over the past couple weeks.

Chris Weidman will also put his belt, the UFC Middleweight Championship, on the line at the event against Luke Rockhold. The two title fights set the tone for what has the potential to become a memorable night of action.

Let's check out the entire group of fights slated for the Las Vegas showcase. That's followed by predictions for the fight-night bonuses and a preview of the main event.

Fight Card

Class	Matchup
	Main Card (PPV)
Featherweight	Jose Aldo (c) vs. Conor McGregor (interim)
Middleweight	Chris Weidman (c) vs. Luke Rockhold
Middleweight	Ronaldo Souza vs. Yoel Romero
Welterweight	Demian Maia vs. Gunnar Nelson
Featherweight	Max Holloway vs. Jeremy Stephens
	Preliminary Card (Fox Sports 1)
Bantamweight	Urijah Faber vs. Frankie Saenz
Women's Strawweight	Tecia Torres vs. Jocelyn Jones-Lybarger
Welterweight	Warlley Alves vs. Colby Covington
Lightweight	Leonardo Santos vs. Kevin Lee
	Preliminary Card (UFC Fight Pass)
Lightweight	Joe Proctor vs. Magomed Mustafaev
Lightweight	John Makdessi vs. Yancy Medeiros
Welterweight	Court McGee vs. Marcio Alexandre

Bonus Predictions

Award Type	Fighters
Fight of the Night	Jose Aldo vs. Conor McGregor
Performance of the Night	Chris Weidman and Ronaldo Souza

Main-Event Preview

Aldo, who hasn't entered the Octagon since last October, was originally scheduled to face of with McGregor in July. A rib injury forced him to back out of that matchup, and the Irishman defeated Chad Mendes in the meantime to take control of the interim belt.

It's an intriguing unification bout because they are each fiery competitors who should put on a quite a show once that opening bell rings. Of course, any fight involving McGregor has garnered added attention in recent years as he's perfected the art of selling himself and his bouts.

Aldo is trying to make sure he doesn't get too caught up in the outside stuff, though. Damon Martin of Fox Sports passed along comments from the champ, who's trying to treat the situation as normally as possible despite his budding rivalry with McGregor.

"Every fight the biggest fight of my career, the next one is always the biggest one, so I'm looking at this one as the biggest fight in my career because it's the next one," Aldo said. "To me he's just the same. I've fought a lot of the top fighters out there, and to me he's really just another opponent that I have to go in there and beat."

Of course, once the fight starts, all of the words fade into the background and the only thing that matters is which fighter executes better.

Rust is certainly a potential factor for Aldo. He was on such a roll before the extended layoff that it's tough to imagine him stepping into the Octagon and simply picking up where he left off. And that's not an ideal situation against a powerful, aggressive fighter like McGregor.

So the early pace will be crucial. "The Notorious" will want to come out and immediately put Aldo to the test with some early body shots just to see how he responds. The more strikes he's able to land in the first round, the tougher it will be for the longtime champion to get back in form.

EA Sports UFC provided a teaser of a fight simulation, with the bout now also having the added benefit of the winner getting put on the cover of the next UFC video game:

This fight is particularly difficult to forecast because it's tough to know exactly what to except from Aldo. If he can immediately get back to where he was before, he holds a slight edge. But McGregor is ready to pounce on any weakness in his return.

The interim title-holder can't try to do too much, though. He's been waiting for this fight for a long time and the most common mistake is going for the quick knockout. He needs to bring some heat early but not overextend himself to the point where it's easy for Aldo to wear him down as the fight goes on.

Ultimately, the uncertainty simply adds another layer of intrigue to an already hyped encounter.