The stage is now set for Conor McGregor to do what he has promised to do and take out the entire UFC featherweight division.
Victory over Dennis Siver in Boston last night means he will go across the vast expanse of the United States to face the champion Jose Aldo in Las Vegas this May.
And according to Ariel Helwani of MMAFighting.com, by securing a bout with Aldo, McGregor has reached the upper echelons of his weight class and there is now "nowhere to run or hide".
"It's one of the most anticipated fights that I can remember. Everything about it is amazing," he said on Off The Ball, describing McGregor's leap out of the octagon to confront Aldo as one of the iconic moments within the UFC.
"In that moment, it reminded me of when Muhammad Ali was yelling at Joe Frazier to try and get under his skin. Frazier reacted a little differently back then. I love the way Aldo reacted. His presence made this event that much bigger in my opinion because he doesn't come to these events. It made it feel very special and him just smiling and almost looking down on Conor was perfect. This is the champion who is not going to bring himself to the 'joker's' level."
Helwani also said he is not comfortable with the recent comparisons to Muhammad Ali and agreed with McGregor's own assertion that the legendary boxer "transcended sport" politically and from a societal perspective in a way that no one else has.
"To compare him in that sense, I don't think is fair to Muhammad Ali and Conor McGregor," he stated, also looking ahead to the strengths and weaknesses both Aldo and the Dubliner must take into consideration.
"This is by far the toughest fight of Conor's career and that's going to be one of the big talking points heading into it - the leg kicks. Jose Aldo is a former soccer player and went pretty far in his career as an amateur. That's going to be one of his big weapons."
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