UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor has claimed he will “behead” lightweight title-holder Rafael dos Anjos when the pair meet on March 5 at UFC 197.
The fight was officially confirmed for Las Vegas, Nevada at the MGM Grand on Tuesday. Reacting on his own Facebook page, some choice quotes from McGregor were aimed at the Brazilian:
Mr. McGregor would like to thank the fans and the media for their patience in this decision. Mr. McGregor was still busy counting the take from his last fight.
He has chosen to dedicate this demolition job to the loyal people of Brazil and all the fans around the globe who stay true to their roots and loyal to their land. Mr. McGregor has said that Rafael is a traitor to his people and vows to “behead the ‘American Gringo’ Rafael Dos Anjos, in the name of La Brasilia!”
Viva la Brasil!
As we can see here courtesy of MMA Junkie’s Chamatkar Sandhu, the man known as Notorious included this image of Dos Anjos alongside the post:
It’s set to be an historic occasion. Should McGregor win, not only will he become the third fighter in UFC history to have won titles in two separate weight classes—the others being B.J. Penn and Randy Couture—he’d become the first fighter in the brand’s existence to have held two belts simultaneously.
As such, if McGregor was to triumph over Dos Anjos, Bleacher Report’s Jeremy Botter feels he’d deserve to be considered among the all-time greats of the sport:
Dos Anjos will represent a massive challenge to McGregor’s hopes of breaking new ground. The Brazilian was an impressive victor over Donald Cerrone in his last title defence, securing a first-round technical knockout win following some brutal striking.
After clinching the title from Anthony Pettis at UFC 185, the victory over Cerrone really cemented Dos Anjos’ title credentials.
His style doesn’t seem a good match for McGregor, either. Dos Anjos is capable of coping with big strikers, is strong upright, a proficient wrestler and likely able to suffocate the Irishman in his pursuit for space inside the cage.
Former winner of The Ultimate Fighter, Kevin Gastelum, thinks the current lightweight champion will be an easy and brutal victor in this one:
Although there’s plenty stacked against McGregor as we look ahead to this fight, there’s also a lot in his favour. His movement, for one, is superb and even in the opening seconds of his win against Jose Aldo, it was evident how loose he looked.
Additionally, if the Irishman can carry his power to the 155-pound limit, it’s enough to trouble any competitor.
But perhaps most pertinently of all, during McGregor’s rapid rise everything he’s said he was going to accomplish, he has done. Nobody feasibly expected him to knock out Aldo, who was unbeaten for a decade, inside the opening round as he promised. But he did so emphatically.
So, while there’s no denying Dos Anjos represents a huge stylistic test for McGregor, recent history suggests the Irishman will, somehow, find a way of overcoming the challenge.
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