Fox Sports’ Brian Stann breaks down the Aldo-McGregor fight

Fox Sports’ Brian Stann is calling Saturday’s featherweight showdown between Brazil’s champion Jose Aldo and Ireland’s Conor McGregor “a fight fan’s dream.”

Stann said that though logic leads him to give “the slight edge to Aldo,” McGregor has an “X-factor” that makes Saturday’s main event of UFC 194 at MGM Grand so compelling.

“The mental strength of Conor McGregor -- the entire training camp, he insults you, makes fun of you, downplays your skills --he’s just trying to plant seeds of doubt in your mind,” Stann said. “Will Aldo be able to fight emotionless and not let that get to him?”

Stann, a retired former UFC middleweight contender, will serve as analyst to blow-by-blow commentator Jon Anik on Fox Sports 1 for Friday night’s “The Ultimate Fighter” finale at the Cosmopolitan Hotel in Las Vegas.

The broadcast, which includes a main-event featherweight fight between former lightweight champion Frankie Edgar and Chad Mendes, who lost to McGregor by second-round technical knockout in July, begins at 7 p.m.

The next night, Stann will provide analysis for the UFC 194 prefight show on Fox Sports 1 at 4 p.m.

McGregor is a slight favorite even though Aldo hasn’t tasted defeat in more than 10 years and has been the UFC’s only featherweight champion.

“A lot of [being favored] has to do with Conor’s confidence,” Stann said. “And he also comes in as the bigger man. He’s massive for the weight class. He is so much bigger than any other featherweight out there. He’s long. He’s good in all the same areas that Jose Aldo is. He’s been on a tear lately and I think the oddsmakers are buying into that.

“It’s not just a character. It’s not just an act. He believes the words coming out of his mouth about how good he is and he believes he is that good. I believe there is a whole lot of people on this little island called Ireland that are betting on him.”

Many have suggested McGregor’s trash talk and media savvy are the main keys to his gaining a fast track to the title shot.

Stann begs to differ.

“This is a fight,” he said. “Part of being a professional fighter is selling tickets. And Conor was a student of the fight game before he even got into the UFC. He came in with a plan and has executed it. And it shows in his bank account.

“He certainly talked his way into the spotlight, there’s no doubt about that. But everyone who they have put him up against … he’s dominated them.

“He’s definitely earned it.”

Follow Alex Solano on Twitter: @alexsolano0306