Bobby Green implied in a recent interview that Rafael dos Anjos is a performance-enhancing drug user. The new UFC lightweight champion doesn’t appreciate those accusations.
“I think this guy wants to bring some attention to him,” Dos Anjos told MMAFighting.com. “He can’t do well in the Octagon. He tried to do it another way to bring attention, because he’s doing really bad in the Octagon.”
Dos Anjos dominated Anthony Pettis en route to winning the title in the main event of UFC 185 on March 14 in Dallas. Green told BJPenn.com Radio recently that he believed something about dos Anjos was amiss.
“I’m not even attacking him,” Green said. “I’m just going to let it be known that he’s a great fighter, I saw his talents, I saw him coming. But the point is that it looks a little funny to me, that’s all I’m saying.
“It’s [like] how Barry Bonds started hitting home runs.”
Bonds, the Major League Baseball home run leader, never tested positive for any performance-enhancing drugs, but was convicted of obstruction of justice in a steroid case, a ruling that was recently overturned. Bonds is the face of PED use in baseball and has not been voted into the Hall of Fame, because so many suspect his use.
Green seems to think dos Anjos’ rise has not been natural.
“I sparred with him personally, I felt it,” Green said. “I was like, ‘There’s something here. There’s something a little bit different here.’ I knew what was going to happen to [Pettis], I knew what was going to happen.”
Dos Anjos (24-7) passed the UFC 185 drug test and denies any PED usage. And supports the UFC’s proposed new drug-testing policy.
The Brazilian has had a career renaissance of late. Since 2012, he has won nine of 10 fights with the lone loss coming against Khabib Nurmagomedov. Dos Anjos started his UFC career 0-2 and then was 3-3 as recently as 2011. The 30-year-old, though, credits a new strength and conditioning program, his work with Rafael Cordeiro at Kings MMA in Huntington Beach, Calif., and, perhaps most importantly, his confidence.
Green used dos Anjos beating Pettis despite a partially torn MCL as an example of perhaps some usage of a banned substance. Dos Anjos called it sheer force of will, citing competing against Clay Guida with a broken jaw in 2010 as proof of his indefatigability.
“Man, I fought three rounds with a broken jaw,” he said. “I fought Evan Dunham with a broken rib. Nobody knows that. I have a strong mentality. When I step in the Octagon, I go to kill a guy.”
Dos Anjos will not need surgery to repair his knee after the Pettis fight, however he did go under the knife last week to fix issues with his nose that inhibited proper breathing. With rehab for his leg and healing from the face surgery, dos Anjos said he won’t be able to train with contact for two months. He expects to defend his title again near the end of the year.
As for who that will be against, dos Anjos said he doesn’t care whether it’s Nurmagomedov, Donald Cerrone or even brash featherweight top contender Conor McGregor, who has called him out recently.
“I don’t think I have to prove anything to anybody,” dos Anjos said. “I’ve been in this game for a long time. So, if it’s Cerrone or Khabib or this guy McGregor comes to my division, I’ll make sure I’ll be there.”
Green is not on his list, though, because he isn’t high enough in the rankings. The two have sparred together before and dos Anjos said if it happens again he “won’t go easy on him.”
Dos Anjos has heard similar accusations bout PED usage on social media, but he pays it no mind. His drug test came back negative and, in his mind, that is proof enough that he’s clean.
“Even after that, people are still talking,” dos Anjos said. “It’s like that. People just want to talk. They don’t want to give you that respect, the value you deserve. There is always gonna be haters to talk about you.
“They are haters. They don’t do nothing. They just want to talk bad about people. I do my job. I have millions of fans that support me. I have a great team, I have a great family. This is what drives me to keep training hard and keep reaching my goals.”