Tag: Rafael dos Anjos vs. Conor McGregor

Dana White Confirms RDA Is An Option For Conor McGregor’s Next Fight

Well, it looks as if the highly-anticipated rematch between Nate Diaz and reigning UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor may be further away from a reality than we had previously thought. The two were originally set to rematch at July 9’s UFC 200, but McGregor was scrapped from the card after refusing to attend a promotional

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Well, it looks as if the highly-anticipated rematch between Nate Diaz and reigning UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor may be further away from a reality than we had previously thought.

The two were originally set to rematch at July 9’s UFC 200, but McGregor was scrapped from the card after refusing to attend a promotional press conference in Las Vegas. There have since been rumors indicating that the second meeting could take place at August’s UFC 202.

According to UFC President Dana White, however, who appeared on today’s (June 6, 2016) edition of The Herd, Diaz is looking for a new and improved contract after his monstrous submission victory over McGregor last March at UFC 196.

White, however, admitted that Diaz already has a set contract with the promotion and that he’s now essentially ‘trying to blow up the deal’:

“What you try to do in a deal like this is you try to be as fair as you can be. Obviously the problem is we already have a deal — we have a deal. He has a contract. Conor has a deal,” White said. “He’s never come back and tried to renegotiate a contract. Ever.

“Nate, we signed a new deal going into that fight, then he signed the contract for UFC 200 and then Conor doesn’t show up for 200 so now Nate’s trying to blow up the deal. It’s frustrating but that’s the business that we’re in. This is what we do. Everybody’s not going to be happy all the time so now our job is, Lorenzo (Fertitta) and I, have to sit down and try to figure out how to make this deal work and we’ve been going back and forth trying to make this fight happen but the problem is timing. Now we’re running out of time.”

As White mentioned, time is certainly running out regarding UFC 202, and at the end of the day, the promotion may just need to move on:

“This fight’s supposed to be August 20 or something like that — I’ve already got September 20 done. I got that card made, it’s done and now we’re moving onto the next one,” White said. “So we’re going to get to a point here where we’re going to run out of time and we’re just not going to be able to make the fight. So Conor’s either going to have to pick a new opponent that he would like to fight or lose that date.”

The UFC boss admitted that Diaz’s star power has risen tremendously, and that he’s one of the millions of people who would like to see the fight happen.

If the UFC cannot reach an agreement for Diaz – McGregor II, however, the Irishman will indeed be booked against another opponent while Diaz’s future remains unclear. White listed off a few options for McGregor, and you may be surprised to see 155-pound boss Rafael dos Anjos on the list:

“The reality is since that Conor McGregor fight, obviously when you win a fight of that magnitude, it has definitely rubbed off on Nate. People do want to see Nate fight, people do want to see this fight again, and I’m one of those guys I want to make the fight the people want to see. I believe people want to see this fight.”

“But people want to see Conor McGregor fight Frankie Edgar or Jose Aldo again, too. I’m sure they’d want to see him fight Rafael dos Anjos at 155 for that title. So there’s a lot of fights out there for Conor if we can’t get this Nate fight done.”

McGregor was scheduled to fight dos Anjos for the Brazilian’s lightweight strap at UFC 196, but RDA was forced to withdraw with an injury, leading Diaz to accept the bout on short notice.

While a matchup between dos Anjos and McGregor would be intriguing, the Brazilian is scheduled to defend his title next month against Eddie Alvarez, meaning a bout between he and the Irishman would most likely take place near the end of 2016 at the earliest, putting McGregor’s title on hold for a year.

In my opinion, it has to be Diaz or a title defense for McGregor next.

What are your thoughts?

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Rafael Dos Anjos Eyeing Two Belts In The Future

UFC lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos was scheduled to defend his  title against featherweight champion Conor McGregor in the main event of March 5’s UFC 196 in a bout that if won by McGregor would make the Irishman the UFC’s first fighter to hold two titles at one time. Unfortunately, the fight never came to

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UFC lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos was scheduled to defend his  title against featherweight champion Conor McGregor in the main event of March 5’s UFC 196 in a bout that if won by McGregor would make the Irishman the UFC’s first fighter to hold two titles at one time.

Unfortunately, the fight never came to fruition, as dos Anjos was forced to withdraw from the fight due to an injury. Now healthy, the Brazilian will put his 155-pound title on the line on July 7, 2016 against Eddie Alvarez on UFC Fight Pass.

Despite the upcoming fight, however, dos Anjos does have high aspirations of his own that he’d like to hit. In fact, he’d like to eventually hold two titles himself, possibly moving up to welterweight in order to do so.

The Brazilian also admitted that he’d still be open to a scrap with McGregor:

“In the future, I want to have super-fights. I want to go to the weight class above,” he told Combate, per the Daily Star. “It Conor or it can be anyone. I‘ve been wanting to have two belts , why not? This is something that already goes through my head. I fought in 77 kg and is something I will do in the future.”

With the way dos Anjos has been performing as of late, a matchup between he and welterweight king Robbie Lawler would be a monumental fight to say the least.

Of course he obviously still has a plethora of challengers left in the crowded lightweight class, but potential super fights are on the horizon.

Who you would you rather see dos Anjos face? McGregor or Lawler?

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Rafael dos Anjos Bashes Conor McGregor: He Can’t Even Tie His Belt

Reigning UFC featherweight champion the “Notorious” Conor McGregor is coming off of his first Octagon loss at the hands of Nate Diaz in a welterweight bout at last March’s UFC 196 from Las Vegas, Nevada. McGregor, a prolific knockout artist, was submitted in the second round by Diaz. All three of the Irishman’s career losses

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Reigning UFC featherweight champion the “Notorious” Conor McGregor is coming off of his first Octagon loss at the hands of Nate Diaz in a welterweight bout at last March’s UFC 196 from Las Vegas, Nevada.

McGregor, a prolific knockout artist, was submitted in the second round by Diaz. All three of the Irishman’s career losses have come by way of submission, and his grappling skills have been highly criticized in the past.

In a recent twitter squabble, Diaz even referred to him as a ‘white belt’, although he’s technically a brown belt under his head coach John Kavanagh.

Diaz isn’t the only one to take a shot at McGregor, however, as reigning lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos recently got in on the fun as well.

Dos Anjos was originally set to defend his 155-pound title against the “Notorious” one at UFC 196, but he was forced to withdraw with an injury.

Apparently the bad blood hasn’t settled between the two, and dos Anjos took to his official Instagram account today (May 5, 2016) to bash McGregor for apparently tying his jiu-jitsu belt incorrectly:

Are you still hoping to see the Irish knockout artist and the Brazilian dos Anjos clash at some point in the future?

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Rafael Dos Anjos: I Will Submit Alvarez

In recent years, reigning UFC lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos has upped his game by adding a more well-rounded striking arsenal to his already established world class ground game. Dos Anjos used this new and improved striking to knockout former champion Benson Henderson, and batter and bloody another former champion in Anthony Pettis on his

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In recent years, reigning UFC lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos has upped his game by adding a more well-rounded striking arsenal to his already established world class ground game.

Dos Anjos used this new and improved striking to knockout former champion Benson Henderson, and batter and bloody another former champion in Anthony Pettis on his quest to the title.

The Brazilian most recently scored a quick finish over Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone via strikes as well in his first title defense last December.

Now, dos Anjos will once again put his title on the line against former Bellator champion Eddie Alvarez live on UFC Fight Pass on July 7, 2016.

Despite his obvious improvements in the striking department, the champion will always be confident in his grappling, and he plans to use these skills in his upcoming bout:

“I miss submitting people,” he recently told UFC.com. “I have a lot of confidence in my jiu-jitsu. I believe he will try to put me down, so we’ll see what happens on the ground. I’ve been putting a lot of work on my grappling, and I believe I can submit him.”

Alvarez worked his way to a UFC title shot with two consecutive victories, most recently defeating Pettis by way of decision last January in a bout where he controlled much of the action with his wrestling.

RDA expects Alvarez to wrestle him as well, but feels as if his superior jiu-jitsu skills will make the difference:

“He spent three rounds all over Pettis. I believe he’ll try something similar with me,” he continued. “But, I believe I’m more well-rounded. My grappling is better. I’m taller. … I’m very motivated. All these [things] will help me get this win.”

As far as the champion’s health goes, he is indeed coming off of an injury. In fact, he was forced to pull out of a highly anticipated title fight with 145-pound title holder Conor McGregor last month, but it appears as if he’s already gotten back to training:

“I’m already back at work,” he said. “The bone is almost healed, but some tendons are still sore. I’ve been doing some grappling, not with full power but I can’t stand being away.”

How do you see dos Anjos vs. Alvarez playing out this summer?

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Rafael dos Anjos Open To Robbie Lawler Fight, Eyes UFC 200 Return

Reigning UFC lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos was scheduled to defend his title against featherweight kingpin Conor McGregor last weekend, but he ended up being forced out of the bout with a broken foot. While dos Anjos has been criticized, mainly by McGregor, for his injury, the Brazilian notes that it’s the first time he’s

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Reigning UFC lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos was scheduled to defend his title against featherweight kingpin Conor McGregor last weekend, but he ended up being forced out of the bout with a broken foot.

While dos Anjos has been criticized, mainly by McGregor, for his injury, the Brazilian notes that it’s the first time he’s ever pulled out of a fight due to an injury. He also admitted that he missed out on a huge payday, but that he sees a bright future ahead:

“I’ve been around the game for a long time, 12 years, and I never cancelled any fight due to injury,” dos Anjos said Monday on The MMA Hour. “I always show up, but unfortunately for this fight, I broke my foot, man. A lot of people are making fun of it, and I don’t like to make fun of people’s injuries. I think we are fighters, so everybody is going to get injured one day. So, unfortunately I lost my payday, but I think everything is God’s plan for my life. I believe in that.”

With McGregor losing to late replacement opponent Nate Diaz, a super fight between he and dos Anjos is likely off of the table for now. That being said, the Brazilian claimed that he never feared the Irishman, also saying that he hopes to return at UFC 200 this summer:

“It’s hard, but man, they’re all haters,” dos Anjos said. “I’m not giving anything for the haters. There’s always going to be people there talking crap, but I have my fans who believe in me. And man, who is this guy for me to be afraid of him? I’ve beaten better guys before. Man, I don’t fear nobody but God. But this guy, it’s been hard because I’m very active and I’m [peaking] right now, so I’m ready to fight right now but I have my foot injury. So I have a lot of energy, I want to do stuff, but I can’t yet. But it’s fine. I’m going to be back in four or five weeks. I’m up for UFC 200.”

As far as who he would like to fight, dos Anjos even went as far to say that he would be willing to move up and challenge welterweight boss Robbie Lawler, a move McGregor had spoken often on:

“I don’t know the UFC’s plans, but I’m here, man,” dos Anjos said. “I’m here to fight anybody. I’ll fight welterweight too, if they need.

“I respect Robbie Lawler, but if UFC needs somebody to fight for the welterweight (title), I would fight.”

Would you be interested in seeing Lawler vs. dos Anjos at UFC 200 in Las Vegas?

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These UFC 196: McGregor vs. Diaz Promos Will Get You Pumped

Although fans won’t get what they were originally promised at March 5’s UFC 196, which will go down at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, the masses seem to be overly joyed with what we have now received. After lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos pulled out of his bout with featherweight kingpin Conor McGregor, brash

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Although fans won’t get what they were originally promised at March 5’s UFC 196, which will go down at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, the masses seem to be overly joyed with what we have now received.

After lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos pulled out of his bout with featherweight kingpin Conor McGregor, brash and outspoken bad boy Nate Diaz stepped up on just over a week’s notice.

McGregor and Diaz, two of the sport’s most highly touted trash talkers, have had some bad blood in the past, specifically when Diaz went on a rant about the Irishman after his UFC on FOX 17 victory over Michael Johnson.

The Stockton native repeatedly called the “Notorious” one out, and Diaz obviously has gotten what he’s wanted.

The two men met face to face at a press conference in California yesterday, going back and forth in epic war of verbal attrition.

While that frenzy probably did enough to hype up fans for the fight, the UFC has continued to promote the short notice bout with two official UFC 196 promo videos.

Check them out below:

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