After Conor McGregor fired shots at Rafael dos Anjos a few days ago, calling the Brazilian a “traitor” to his home country for moving to California, the lightweight champion didn’t hesitate to fire back.
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Both champions will meet in a superfight at UFC 197, where McGregor could become the first man to ever hold two UFC belts simultaneously. It’s something Conor already accomplished during his time at Cage Warriors, but holding titles at 145 and 155 will be difficult to repeat in the UFC, says Dos Anjos.
“UFC lightweight division isn’t the belt he got in Ireland when he fought a guy with a record of 2-7,” Dos Anjos told MMAFighting.com. “It’s a different world. He fought guys that don’t even have Sherdog pages. He holds belts off his amateur show in Ireland. It’s a different story to hold two UFC belts. Lightweight division is a different story. We’ll see.”
“Everybody talks. Anthony Pettis talked before the fight. Donald Cerrone talked before the fight. See what happened? I’ll let him talk and we’ll see what happens. I hope he’s training hard. I think he’s going to be scared once I hit him.”
McGregor has won the UFC’s 145-pound title by beating Dos Anjos’ countryman Jose Aldo at UFC 194 with a shocking 13-second knockout. But RDA isn’t impressed.
“I don’t feel any pressure. I have to take care of my family, my team and my legacy. It’s one more fight. There isn’t anything special in this fight. I’m just happy to put my hands on this guy and make him humble. I think the toughest part of this camp will be not putting my hands on him before the fight happens.”
Well, and regarding the traitor comments, of course Dos Anjos had an answer for McGregor as well.
“It doesn’t make any sense,” Dos Anjos said of McGregor’s comments. “We have a lot of Brazilians in the United States. It doesn’t mean we’re traitors to our country. I’ve got kids and I had to move for different things like better wrestling training partners here. I think that was a frustrated way to try to win the Brazilian fans. This guy is out of his mind. He’s going to try to do his best to try to mess with my head. I don’t hate him, but the Brazilians do. Brazil is on my side.”