Rafael Dos Anjos may have appeared as though Conor McGregor’s insults were getting to him yesterday in Las Vegas, but today, speaking to SevereMMA.com from Brazil, the lightweight champion quickly ruled out any notions that the Dubliner had got under his skin.
McGregor was over 30 minutes late for the press conference and, according to Dos Anjos, there is a possibility that ‘The Notorious’ arrived late on purpose to “bring the attention on himself.”
“Maybe he was late on purpose,” suggested Dos Anjos. “As I said before, he’s always trying to bring the attention on himself. That’s what he was trying to do by coming late, he was just trying to take all of the attention onto himself. I think it was very disrespectful to all the fans and all of the media. But, it’s okay, I’m going to humble him for this, I’m going to humble him for all of the things that he is doing.”
Despite McGregor’s emphatic 13-second knockout of Jose Aldo, a lot of people still believe that he could be in for a tough night against the Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt, Dos Anjos. The Brazilian famously put on a grappling clinic to claim the lightweight title from Anthony Pettis, and he promised that he will be using “all of his skills” to beat McGregor on March 5.
“I’m going to use all of my skills. I’m an MMA fighter – I’m good on the ground, I have good takedowns and I’m ready to fight standing too,” he explained. “I just finished Donald Cerrone standing. I think I have a lot of weapons to win this fight and I plan on using all of them. Takedowns, ground game, stand-up, kicks, punches, knees–I have a big arsenal.”
Although McGregor has previously fought as a lightweight outside of the UFC, Dos Anjos maintained that McGregor “is going to have nightmares about the lightweight division” following his first Octagon outing at the higher weight class on March 5.
“My size will be an advantage. With all due respect, he became a two-weight world champion with a small promotion in Ireland. That is not the same level, it’s not UFC level. In UFC, the level is very different. The lightweight division is a shark tank. He’s going to regret coming up here, he’s going to have nightmares about the lightweight division for the rest of his life,” promised the lightweight champion.
McGregor’s passionate Irish support have made for an intimidating backdrop to all of his bouts in Sin City, but surprisingly, the lightweight champion seems to be very fond of the MMA clan from the Emerald Isle:
“Personally, I really like the Irish fans because every time they see me they come over and shake my hand. They ask for pictures. For me, Irish fans have brought a completely different thing to this sport. They have passion, they’re a lot like the Brazilian fans.
“I really like that. It’s funny because every time I walk around the MGM Irish fans come up to me and we take pictures and they always say to me ‘please don’t beat Conor, please don’t kill him!’ They are good guys, they are good fans, I really like them.”
“I’m ready for the sound they will make in the arena. I know they will be loud but I feel like I’m ready for everything. I’m just going to keep my ears on my coaches and focus on my gameplan. That’s my game.”
Dos Anjos may not be full of praise for McGregor, but he knows that the Irishman brings something extra to the table in terms of his support. That being said, Dos Anjos agreed that his clash with the SBG man will probably be “the biggest fight of his career.”
He said: “This probably will be the biggest fight of my career. It will be on pay-per-view and Conor has a whole lot of fans. He’s very popular and a lot of people will tune in to see him. I think the Pettis fight was one of the biggest, but I think this one can beat it. Champion versus champion is very rare, so I think this will be the biggest fight of my career.”
Interestingly, the lightweight champion insisted that McGregor is not the best striker he has ever faced, citing his bouts with Donald Cerrone and Pettis as contests where he faced “better strikers.”
“I don’t think he’s the best striker I have ever faced, not at all. I’ve faced Donald Cerrone twice and Anthony Pettis. I have fought a lot of better strikers before. I really don’t think he is the best striker I’ve faced at all.”
@PetesyCarroll
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