Conor McGregor trashes former lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos

By Russell Ess - August 8, 2016

Crazy to think of where things would be at if the now former UFC lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos and UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor had fought like they were originally scheduled to at UFC 196.

Dos Anjos pulled out of the fight with McGregor less than two weeks before they were scheduled to fight with an injury and then Nate Diaz stepped in and shocked the world, submitting “The Notorious” in the second round of their fight.

During the UFC 202 media conference call where McGregor and Diaz talked about their August 20 rematch, McGregor said things would be much different with the state of the UFC if he had fought dos Anjos like originally planned.

“Realistically, I should be a two-weight UFC world champion,” McGregor said on the conference call (transcribed by FOX Sports).

“If I fought Rafael dos Anjos, if he didn’t (expletive) out of that last one, the shots I cracked Nate with in the first eight minutes of that round would have KO’d Rafael dos Anjos stiff. That’s no question. I would be sitting here as a two weight world champion.”

While McGregor and his team like to look at the fight game as either “winning or learning,” the featherweight champion says that the loss to Diaz has ultimately helped him.

“I don’t dwell on that,” McGregor said. “I’m happy that happened because it forced me to look at my preparation, at the route I was going. It forced me to reassess. So I’m happy that this happened.”

Do you think Conor McGregor would have beat Rafael dos Anjos if they had fought at UFC 196? Sound off in the comments!


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Conor McGregor