Jim Miller isn’t the only fighter who wasn’t that impressed with the Nate Diaz-Conor McGregor rematch at UFC 202.
Rafael dos Anjos, who beat Diaz via unanimous decision in 2014 and was expected to fight ‘The Notorious’ at UFC 196 before pulling out with a broken foot, said the fight was ‘sloppy’.
“I think most of the people watched MMA for the first time that day and they think that was… I just saw two sloppy guys after the second round,” dos Anjos told Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour (h/t Guilherme Cruz of MMA Fighting). “The fight got so sloppy, and I didn’t see the best fight of all times at all, but it is what it is.”
McGregor, who lost the first bout via rear-naked choke at UFC 196, evened the score last month and took home a majority decision. McGregor dominated round one and most of round two, but the momentum swung in Diaz’ favor in the third and the bout soon became a battle of wills.
Most fans and fighters were in awe of the action, labelling the fight as an instant classic between two warriors, but dos Anjos doesn’t know what all the fuss is about.
“The first round was good,” he continued. “Conor dropped Nate a couple of times, but then I didn’t see like ‘Wow, what an exciting fight.’ I didn’t see that way. I’ve watched better fights before.”
The former lightweight champion lost the belt to Eddie Alvarez at UFC Fight Night 90, and thinks Alvarez poses serious problems for Conor McGregor.
“Eddie has more weapons than Conor,” dos Anjos said. “He has grappling, has better wrestling than Nate. Everybody saw Nate is a tough guy, he has a big heart, but Nate is kind of limited. He has good boxing and a good ground game but he doesn’t have takedowns, he doesn’t have kicks, so this can make the fight harder for him. Eddie has good wrestling, good boxing, he kicks, too, so I think Eddie can give Conor a hard time.”
Alvarez, who became the first fighter to win titles in Bellator and the UFC, immediately called out McGregor following his first-round KO of dos Anjos. McGregor, however, claimed that his next fight might not even be in MMA, hinting at a potential boxing showdown with Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Dos Anjos, who slipped to No. 2 in the official lightweight rankings, is expected to face Tony Ferguson at The Ultimate Fighter Latin America 3 Finale. The event is scheduled to take place on November 5 at Arena Ciudad de Mexico in Mexico City, Mexico.
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