The UFC lightweight champions predicts his fight against Conor McGregor and reveals that he actually wants to submit the hard-hitting Irishman.
Rafael dos Anjos competed against the elite of the UFC’s 155-pound division, but he has never faced a trash-talker like Conor McGregor before. Leading up to his champion-vs-champion superfight at UFC 197, the Brazilian took a page out of the book of the 145-pound titleholder and landed a few verbal jabs at him during an interview with MMA Fighting.
“We all saw what happened to those who talked trash at me. I can get in there and be professional, stay cool,” dos Anjos said. “I will be calm and kick his ass for good. I want to finish him. I want to submit him, actually. Sometimes you knock someone out and the way they go down isn’t nice, but when you submit someone… I want to make him quit, I want him asking me to stop. That’s what I want.”
McGregor won the featherweight title with a 13-second knockout victory over Jose Aldo at UFC 194 in December. In the lead-up to the fight he stated he is so confident in himself that he could even take on Jesus and “whoop his ass”.
“This guy said he can beat Jesus, and I will show him what a man of God can do on March 5. I’m going to teach him this lesson,” dos Anjos said. “The most complicated part of all this will be to control myself so I don’t put my hands on this lunatic before the fight, but I will hold on, be cool, and beat him up on March 5. It’s going to be beautiful.
“I don’t see this fight going five rounds. I see myself dominating him completely. The way I train, the way I spar, I’m out of my comfort zone every single day, and you can see the result in my fights. I was tested several times, I proved myself. I’ve been through good and bad situations inside the Octagon, and this guy only knows the good part of the game. I will show him the worst side of the game.”
Dos Anjos and McGregor will headline UFC 197 on March 5 in Las Vegas, NV.