BOSTON — The Orpheum Theater on Saturday afternoon had the vibe of an Irish pub at midnight, as hundreds of UFC fans jammed the 163-year-old venue for the official weigh-in for UFC Fight Night 59.
The vast majority of those in attendance will be pulling for Dublin native Conor McGregor in Sunday’s main event at TD Garden, and that — not to mention the rivers of free-flowing beer on hand — made things a bit interesting for Jose Aldo.
Aldo, the current UFC featherweight champion and the man McGregor will fight for the title if the Irishman can defeat Dennis Siver this weekend, took the stage for a half-hour Q&A session before weigh-in began.
Naturally, the overwhelmingly pro-McGregor crowd let the champ know where its loyalty lies.
The scene was raucous from the start, with the green-and-orange-clad spectators breaking into “Ole, Ole” chants and McGregor fight songs — the most popular of which was, oddly enough, set to the tune of “Walking in a Winter Wonderland” — every few minutes.
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These continued for the duration despite the pleas of host Megan Olivi (at one point, she noted that serving beer at the event might have been a poor choice), but they did not shake Aldo’s confidence.
“I already have a game plan in my mind,” Aldo said through an interpreter before repeating the phrase he uttered after defeating Chad Mendes in October. “I’m the king, he’s the joker, and I will make him pay. He will continue to be the joker. I’m the king, the other one (Mendes) is the prince, and he’s the joker.”
While one questioner asked Aldo about the upcoming Patriots-Colts matchup (he likes the Pats), and another used his question to ask out McGregor’s sister (probably not the best life decision), most focused on a potential Aldo-McGregor title fight — one that could be held at Dublin’s 80,000-seat Croke Park.
Aldo said he would like nothing more, if only to shut up McGregor’s passionate fanbase.
“Watching this Irish crowd in silence would be historical,” he said. “I don’t see any problems with that. I don’t understand anything you say, so I don’t care.”
He’ll find out Sunday if he’ll get that chance.
