“If a man is scared for his life, we can not force him to step inside and fight me.”
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-Conor McGregor
The Notorious Conor McGregor said that about Jose Aldo when he pulled out of UFC 189, and I can’t wait to hear what he says about Rafael dos Anjos backing out of UFC 196 due to injury. That makes 4 of the last 8 Conor McGregor opponents pulling out of their scheduled fight with the featherweight champion. Enter UFC vet Nate Diaz, who has agreed to fight McGregor on short notice at 170lbs. 170! That’s 2 weight classes above the featherweight division (145), and 15 lbs more than his scheduled lightweight (155) bout with dos Anjos. Check out dos Anjos’ tweet regarding his injury after the jump:
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Sorry to all my real fans and @ufc,I never cancel any fight due to injury but accidents happen #Jesus#truechampionpic.twitter.com/wrV58w9KaS
— Rafael dos Anjos (@RdosAnjosMMA) February 24, 2016
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OK, so that foot looks really broken. Dos Anjos reportedly broke the foot during training. I’ve made several jokes on social media about him dropping something on it on purpose to get out of the fight, but we should probably give him the benefit of the doubt. While Aldo may have legitimately been afraid to fight McGregor (I truly believe he was), dos Anjos is a monster at 155 and I feel McGregor would have had his hands full with the Brazilian. I was anticipating a win for McGregor regardless, though, but it looks like the megafight will have to wait until dos Anjos is healthy.
A lot of names were tossed around all day after news broke of the RdA injury. Even though he just fought this past weekend, fans were calling for Cowboy Cerrone to step up and fight McGregor. Word is Cerrone would have obliged, but he wasn’t first in line. UFC President Dana White announced on ESPN’s SportsCenter that a rematch with Jose Aldo was the first fight that came to mind, but Aldo declined. Frankie Edgar also passed on a fight with McGregor. Nate Diaz accepted, and Cerrone was potentially next in line.
Nate Diaz vs Conor McGregor may not be for a title, but this bout features 2 of the best shit-talkers in UFC history. The press conferences are going to be must-see TV, but with no belt to grab from Diaz, what is McGregor going to snatch off his side of the podium?
Let the shit talking begin.
Oh, and the promos keep coming. Not sure if a fan made this one but I came across it on twitter from @ZProphet_MMA
