It seems not everyone has the options and negotiating power of Conor McGregor.
Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos won’t get his desired fight against welterweight champion, Robbie Lawler, at UFC 200 on July 9, 2016.
In fact, UFC officials weren’t even willing to give him a rematch against Nate Diaz, a man he’s already defeated.
That’s according to his manager Ali Abdelaziz, who told “UFC Tonight” that matchmakers informed him he wouldn’t be getting either matchup because they have other plans for him.
Plans that were not revealed.
“RDA” suffered a broken foot a few weeks prior to his much-anticipated 155-pound title fight against featherweight champion, Conor McGregor, which was supposed to go down at UFC 196 a few weeks ago. As a result, Nate Diaz stepped in to face “Notorious,” and managed to pull off one of the biggest upsets in recent memory.
According to the report, dos Anjos is now in a soft cast, a sign that his rehab process is coming along nicely for a potential return this summer.
As far as the top-secret plans, it’s safe to assume that it could involve the winner of the upcoming lightweight bout between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson, which is set to headline UFC on FOX 19 on April 16 in Tampa, Florida.