‘No way’ McGregor can beat Mayweather, UFC rival says

LOS ANGELES — Conor McGregor became known as a fighter with a mystical ability to defy the odds because of his stunning upset victory over Jose Aldo, the former UFC featherweight champion.

Aldo says there’s zero chance McGregor can beat the daunting odds he faces when he steps into a boxing ring with Floyd Mayweather.

“There is no way McGregor can defeat Mayweather,” Aldo said. “Mayweather has done this his entire life, and it’s a different sport.”

The way Aldo sees it, McGregor has obvious motivations for the spectacle that will occur Aug. 26 in Las Vegas — and those motivations don’t include boxing glory.

“After the Mayweather fight, he’ll get lots of millions of dollars,” Aldo said. “Probably he’ll never fight again.”

Aldo was the most dominant champion in mixed martial arts until McGregor set his sights on the Brazilian star several years ago. McGregor embarrassed and infuriated the champ with his loquacious showmanship during the buildup to their December 2015 bout — and then McGregor stunned the UFC with a 13-second knockout of Aldo, flattening the feared 145-pound star with one punch.

While McGregor’s win ended Aldo’s 10-year winning streak, nobody found it to be as utterly improbable as a potential victory over Mayweather (49-0).

McGregor worked relentlessly to get under Aldo’s skin before their fight and Aldo recognizes the similarities in the mental game McGregor is playing against Mayweather.

Aldo doesn’t think even McGregor believes he can win. Aldo saw the posturing and insult-trading as something else entirely.

“It’s a joke,” Aldo said. “He’s just looking for the money.”

The loss to McGregor clearly still stings Aldo.

“(McGregor) can say whatever he wants, but he was a lucky guy,” Aldo said.