Dos Anjos wants to settle the score with McGregor five years on from their cancelled fight at UFC 196.
When their fight fell through five years ago, Rafael Dos Anjos vs. Conor McGregor became one of the ‘what ifs’ in the UFC. Now both in very different places of their respective careers, RDA wants to finally get his shot against McGregor.
After breaking his foot prior to UFC 196 against McGregor, Dos Anjos (30-13) lost his consecutive fights at lightweight and subsequently moved up to 170-pounds. The Brazilian had a mixed bag in his new weight class, going 4-4 in eight fights whilst picking up wins against Kevin Lee and former champion Robbie Lawler.
Speaking recently to MMA Junkie, Dos Anjos gave his thoughts on the 2016 bout that was not to be and explained why he’s McGregor’s kryptonite.
“I believe when I (was scheduled to fight) Conor he was in the best moment of his career, and I was in the best moment of my career,” Dos Anjos said. “I had the belt at the time, and I was feeling pretty confident at that time, and I was in great shape. Definitely, I think I’m a very bad matchup for Conor, especially for my style, my kicks and southpaw stance, my grappling skills, my wrestling skills. But that’s something that passed already. I think with the results of his last fights, I think our paths can cross again, but there’s so many options right now in that division.”
Once champion at 145 and 155-pounds, McGregor (22-5) suffered the first knockout loss of his career last month to Dustin Poirier at UFC 257. It’s the Irishman’s second loss in his last three fights, but he is still ranked above Dos Anjos in the lightweight rankings.
“I think Conor would be a good fight because even though he’s coming off a loss, he still has a better position on the rankings than I do,” he continued. “I think he’d be a good option and he draws a lot of attention. It could be a good fight because we already have a history. But like I said, we still have all the good options. The division is crazy. It’s a good mix right now.”