Georges St-Pierre: 'Maybe McGregor got into Aldo's head a little bit'

Is Conor McGregor in Jose Aldo's head? That's one of the burning questions heading into UFC 194.

While the champs have kept themselves distanced in the lead-up to December's blockbuster pay-per-view, emotions were high during the UFC 189 buildup. McGregor and Aldo ping-ponged insults back and forth during the UFC's world tour, with the highlight of the show being "The Notorious's" belt snatch at the Dublin press conference.

With their featherweight title-unification bout just over two weeks away, there is an unusual calm before the storm. Both men will be making final preparations and adding the finishing touches to their training camps, bracing themselves for the media onslaught accompanying fight week.

While Aldo and McGregor have remained relatively quiet for the past few weeks, Georges St-Pierre believes the accumulation of trash talk from the Irishman in the past may have fazed "Scarface".

"I think, if I can make a comparison, of you[Sonnen] and Anderson Silva, I don't know if I'm right, but it seems like maybe McGregor got into Aldo's head a little bit," GSP said on Chael Sonnen's You're Welcome podcast. "I don't know [if McGregor can beat Aldo]. I guess we'll find out. Aldo is a very smart guy, but Conor McGregor, the way he talks trash, there is a purpose to it."

Sonnen, who hurled abuse at Silva for months leading up to their championship clash at UFC 117, failed to dethrone the king. "The American Gangster" was submitted in the 5th round via triangle armbar after almost wilting Silva in the previous rounds.

Whilst Sonnen fell short against "The Spider", Georges St-Pierre believes his fight night performace and pre-fight theatrics were instrumental in taking away Silva's air of invincibility. Not long after defending his middleweight title for the 2nd time against Sonnen, the Brazilian was usurped by Chris Weidman.

St-Pierre thinks McGregor is using the same strategy against Aldo.

"Most of the guys who have fought Jose Aldo, they've been intimidated," said St-Pierre. "Aldo has an aura of invincibility. A little bit like Anderson Silva had back in the day before you fought him. I think [McGregor] is mentally trying to break that aura of invincibility, but we'll see. You need to break it physically, not mentally. It's going to be a very interesting fight. A very nice clash of styles."

The UFC 194 PPV, which features a headlining main event between Jose Aldo and Conor McGregor, takes place at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada on December 12th.

(Transcriptions via MMAFighting.com)