Rafael dos Anjos(left) and Conor McGregor (right) square off at a press conference in 2016.
Rafael dos Anjos believes there is a “great chance” he finally fights Conor McGregor
Former UFC lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos recently said he believes there is a “great chance” he finally gets to fight Conor McGregor.
It was in March 2016 at UFC 196 that dos Anjos and McGregor were originally set to meet. At the time, dos Anjos was the lightweight champ and McGregor was moving up from featherweight in an attempt to win a second UFC title. However, dos Anjos was forced out of the fight the week before it went down, and Nate Diaz filled in for him. The rest, they say, is history, as Diaz submitted McGregor that night in a game-changing moment in UFC history. As for dos Anjos, it must have been hard for him to sit on the sidelines while McGregor and Diaz had their rivalry and made a ton of money. Not only did dos Anjos lose the payday that comes with fighting McGregor, but he lost his belt to Eddie Alvarez in his very next fight.
It’s now five years later in 2021 and dos Anjos still wants a piece of McGregor. With the Irishman coming off of a knockout loss to Dustin Poirier at UFC 257, it’s not immediately clear what is next for McGregor. Speaking to AG Fight, dos Anjos said that he thinks there is a chance he can finally fight McGregor, though he knows the superstar will have other options.
“He (McGregor) is a guy who chooses his fights, and mine will always make sense. It had to happen and it didn’t happen. I think that now that the pieces have moved in the division, it has a great chance of happening, but he has other options, like the trilogies with (Nate) Diaz and (Dustin) Poirier. He’s a guy who is in front of me in the ranking and is close. The collision course was even closer,” Dos Anjos said.
It is worth noting that, according to the UFC rankings, McGregor is No. 6 at lightweight with dos Anjos at No. 7, so, on paper, a fight between them makes sense. But with McGregor likely having more financially-lucrative options, the best thing that dos Anjos can do right now is to keep winning fights, keep making noise, and hope he can capture McGregor’s attention. Though McGregor has more than likely moved on, it never hurts to call your shot and hope for the best.
Do you want to finally see Rafael dos Anjos fight Conor McGregor in 2021?
