Rafael dos Anjos: I Don’t Want To Fight Conor McGregor

UFC lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos is a busy man. As well as preparing for a rematch with Donald Cerrone in December, the Brazilian has been engaging in beef with Conor McGregor and Anthony Pettis. Earlier today (September 28) he and former champ ‘Showtime’ exchanged some pretty comical trash talk on social media, potentially laying the framework for another meeting down the line.

‘RDA’ will head in to his camp for the December UFC on FOX showdown with ‘Cowboy’ knowing he won the first fight convincingly, only this time his rival Pettis has said he’ll be assisting Cerrone in his preparations for the champion. Talking to Ariel Helwani during today’s MMA Hour, dos Anjos tells how the cereal troll came about, and also gave his feelings on Cerrone/Pettis:

“I was at the supermarket with my son, and he was asking for some cereals, and when I saw it was him (Anthony Pettis) on the box I said to my son ‘Hey, do you want them?’ he said ‘No, I don’t like when they are expired.’ He’s (Pettis) is just confused, he wants a rematch with me or to go to 145, he’s just confused. I think he wants his belt back, so he said he’ll help (Donald) Cerrone and then he can win his belt back. The only way he’ll get it back is by beating Cerrone. I think Anthony joined the wrong team, he should have joined the dos Anjos team”

On to the ‘GO BIG’ presser, and dos Anjos relives Conor McGregor saying it was ‘red panty night’ for the Brazilian champion’s wife, ‘RDA’ caims he didn’t actually realise what his Irish rival had said until later that night:

“I couldn’t understand what he said about my wife, because he has a strong accent, but when I found out later I thought ‘It’s fine.’ We are going to see each other face-to-face somewhere down the line, so we’ll see. I’m glad I didn’t understand, I would’ve been so pissed off. I want to fight Khabib (Nurmagomedov) next. I’m not going to get anything with Conor, he is a small guy, I don’t want to fight him. I want one of the three guys that beat me. I fight for my family, I think the money is not the most important thing, my heart is not on the money. I don’t want to fight against somebody like McGregor who hasn’t done anything in the UFC. I think Jose Aldo beats him.””

Possibly the only person to say he does not want to fight Conor McGregor is Rafael dos Anjos. The consensus opinion is that ‘The Notorious’ is the big money fight in the UFC right now, but it’s also quite refreshing to see someone not only focused on pay checks. Back to ‘Cowboy’, and dos Anjos addresses his next opponent’s steroid jives, and what they said to each other at the ‘GO BIG’ staredown:

“I have a clean record, Cerrone and all those guys that say that they don’t have a clean record. The only thing that doesn’t show on blood tests is hard work. I’m very dedicated. These guys (Cerrone and Pettis) I already beat them both. Cerrone is already making excuses. I want to be a lightweight legend, I’m looking to be the best lightweight ever.”

“He said to me to stay healthy, I told him ‘you too,’ then he told me to ‘stop talking shit.’ He’s the one that’s been talking shit, so I told him ‘you aren’t getting any closer to this belt than now.’ I think he is like a good soccer player, and he has the penalty and the big chance to score but he kicks over the goal. Of course I think (he chokes in the big moments) and he knows that. “

A great interview by ‘RDA’ who comes across as down to earth and realistic. One thing is for certain though, McGregor is going to have a field day with these comments, especially saying he doesn’t want to fight the Irishman.

So a rematch with ‘The Eagle’ is on dos Anjos’ mind, but that lays ahead of the better-than-ever version of Donald Cerrone in Orlando.

Stay tuned!