While eight years have passed since the pair were meant to go head-to-head, the Brazilian has remained adamant that he did ‘the right thing’ by not pursuing the bout. Rafael Dos Anjos explains why he didn’t push The UFC to reschedule Conor McGregor fight Fresh off a historic victory over inside just 13 seconds for featherweight gold, stepped up to lightweight in a bid to make history. At the time, no fighter had ever held two belts simultaneously, thus giving the Irishman all the motivation he needed to push the boundaries of MMA further than anybody ever had before.
At the time, the champion was —a gifted competitor with tremendous grappling skills. The pair exchanged verbal insults during an entertaining press conference, which left fans chomping at the bit to watch the two men go to war in the cage. Sadly, however, ‘RDA’ suffered a broken foot, forcing him out of the contest, with just a week and a half to go.
This prompted to step in, fight McGregor, and pull off one of the biggest upsets the sport has ever seen. By the time Dos Anjos eventually recovered, his Irish nemesis was still locked in a rivalry with Diaz. Consequently, he instead defended his belt against , who beat him in destructive fashion, before ultimately losing to McGregor himself.
In the end, the Rio fighter never had the opportunity to showcase his skills against the biggest name in MMA history. However, he’s more than happy with how things turned out. He told : “Thinking back, I could ta.