Originally, Conor McGregor was scheduled to face lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos at UFC 196 last weekend. When dos Anjos pulled out with a broken foot only two weeks before the fight, Nate Diaz stepped in and managed to submit the Irish superstar in the second round.
It didn’t take long for dos Anjos to comment on McGregor’s shocking loss via social media. On Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour, the Brazilian went a little more into detail on how he experienced the UFC 196 main event.
“Honestly, to tell you the truth, I thought [McGregor] would win,” Dos Anjos said. “He did his best because he had a lot of guys offer to fight him; Anthony Pettis, Donald Cerrone, guys in shape, guys in fight camps. So he picked Nate Diaz, who wasn’t training for sure. Like [Diaz] said, he didn’t spar once for this fight. And he submitted him. So [McGregor] picked the easiest one on his mind, that’s why I thought he was going to win.”
“But Nate Diaz is a tough opponent. I’ve fought him. He’s a really hard guy to finish, has a lot of heart, but he’s different than Conor. Conor did not show a lot of heart. He’s a lion when he’s punching somebody, but when he’s getting punched, he becomes a cat. A little cat. When he’s punching somebody, he’s a lion. But when people punch him, he becomes a cat.”
McGregor dethroned former featherweight champion and pound-for-pound kingpin Jose Aldo with a 13-second knockout at UFC 194 last December and went in as the heavy favorite against Nate Diaz last Saturday. Leading up to the fight, he described himself as the number 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 of the pound-for-pound rankings. Dos Anjos feels, however, that the real McGregor got exposed by Diaz.
“Conor got what he deserved, and God makes everything perfect. Conor, he claimed to be God, and God made everything perfect. God showed him, the world, who he really is,” he said. “He just got exposed, and everything he talked, when the Octagon locked, everybody saw the truth. I think everybody saw the truth last Saturday and he got submitted. Even Holly Holm, she went to sleep without tapping. He tapped. Bro, how are you going to tap on the neck, on the choke? Go to sleep, man. Be a man. Holly Holm showed more heart than him.”
McGregor vs. Diaz was contested at the 170-pound weight limit since the Stockton-based fighter jumped in on such a short notice. But not even the fact that 145-pound champion McGregor went up two weight classes for this fight command’s RDA’s respect.
“A lot of people say, ‘ah, Conor went up two weight divisions.’ No. Nate Diaz, he’s a 155-pound fighter. He’s a lightweight,” dos Anjos added. “And [McGregor] is saying that, ‘I went up two weight divisions.’ No, he did not fight Robbie Lawler. He did not fight Johny Hendricks. He fought Nate Diaz, which is 155. … I just think Conor doesn’t deserve to fight for this, for the 155 belt. He just got smashed by the No. 5 ranked (fighter).”
After his loss, McGregor hinted that a return to the 145-pound division could be next for him.
(Transcription via MMA Fighting)
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