Rafael Dos Anjos: Khabib Doesn’t Deserve Title Shot

Fans everywhere were excited to finally see the return of oft-injured lightweight contender Khabib Nurmagomedov at April 6’s UFC on FOX 19, even if it was just against an overmatched late replacement in Darrell Horcher, whom “The Eagle” finished via dominant ground and pound.

Just don’t count lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos among them.

According to the champ, Nurmagomedov’s victory was far from impressive. In a recent interview with MMA Fighting, ‘RDA’ spoke up with some harsh criticism about the win over Horcher, who was making his UFC debut:

“I was not even a little impressed. He fought a guy who has a full-time job and took the fight on a week’s notice. After the first minute, with all due respect, (Horcher) looked pink, completely out of shape, and (Khabib) still needed almost two rounds to finish the fight.

“Congratulations to the opponent that accepted the fight, but there’s no way… When I lost to Khabib, I was ranked No. 5 or 6 and many things have changed since. He beat a guy who has a full-time job, and I beat Jason High, Ben Henderson, Nate Diaz, Anthony Pettis and Donald Cerrone.”””

Nurmagomedov could have most likely moved into an immediate title shot despite the low-ranking opponent, as he was the last fighter to defeat dos Anjos with a dominant decision at UFC on FOX 11 in 2014. But “The Eagle” wants to take more time off for the religious holiday of Ramadan, and dos Anjos isn’t buying that as an excuse to sit out further:

“He’s saying he needs some rest because he trained for three months for this fight?” dos Anjos said. “Wait a minute… Forty days after fighting him, I fought Jason High. Two months later, I fought Ben Henderson. When you want the belt, you have to work for it. I think that after a performance like that, he should at least fight Tony Ferguson in May. The number of UFC fights he has, I did it in one year.

“I offered him to fight me in July when his fight got cancelled, but he couldn’t do it for religious reasons, I guess, but the opportunity was offered and he didn’t say yes. Now he beats a guy who has a full-time job and thinks he deserves a title shot? In my opinion, he does not. He has to work more. He can’t live the rest of his life saying ‘oh, I beat Rafael, I’m the champion without the belt’. He has to work. Forget about that. I’ve done a lot of things and evolved more since that fight.”

Dos Anjos will move on to a title fight with top contender Eddie Alvarez as during the UFC’s jam-packed International Fight Week this July because he was unwilling to wait round for Nurmagomedov. ‘RDA’ continued on about the Dagestani talent’s absence repeatedly insisting that he should want to fight as much as possible:

“I can’t make plans for November in April. Khabib hasn’t fought in two years and wants to take six months off? What is that? If I take two years off, I would want to fight as much as possible. Many things will happen until November. I think he should fight more. He can’t expect to fight for the title whenever he wants, especially since his results don’t guarantee that. He beat a guy who has a full-time job.”

Finally, touching on his first loss to “The Eagle,” dos Anjos noted that he’s a completely different fighter after beating five straight opponents in dominant fashion. Based on those recent results, the champ believes the game has simply evolved too much for his nemesis to beat him in the rematch:

“I was a different fighter back then. I’ve done wrong things with my diet and my personal life, and I wasn’t 100 percent focused in the fight. It would be a completely different fight now. Take a look at my results and his results. It would be completely different. Two years have passed, the game has changed, and he needs better results.”