Rafael dos Anjos Says Conor McGregor Got What He Deserved
UFC lightweight champion, Rafael dos Anjos, had some choice words for featherweight champion, Conor McGregor.
“Even Holly Holm, she went to sleep without tapping,” dos Anjos told the MMA Hour. “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.”
Dos Anjos was, of course, referring to McGregor’s loss at the hands of lightweight contender, Nate Diaz, who choked the trash-talking Dubliner out in the second round of their main event fight at UFC 196. The loss snapped McGregor’s 15-fight win streak and marked his first loss in the UFC.
Rafael dos Anjos and Conor McGregor were supposed to square off at the event (originally billed as UFC 197) for the lightweight championship, but dos Anjos had to pull out of the bout due to a foot injury.
Had McGregor won, he would have been the first fighter in the UFC to hold two belts at the same time.
As usual, Conor hyped the fight with endless verbal jabs, calling dos Anjos a “traitor” and even promising to behead him.
After dos Anjos pulled out of the bout, Conor continued his verbal assaults at Diaz, claiming the Stockton native “makes gang signs with his right hand and animal balloons with his left hand.”
Whether or not that is true, Diaz and dos Anjos got the last laugh.
“This guy, I think, everything he talked, he paid in the Octagon,” said Rafael. “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.”
Rafael dos Anjos was not even willing to give Conor any credit for the fact that the Celtic MMA fighter was competing two weight classes above the featherweight class that he reigns over.
“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. And is saying that, ‘I went up two weight divisions.’ No. He did not fight [UFC welterweight champion] Robbie Lawler. He did not fight Johny Hendricks. He fought Nate Diaz, which is 155.”
Though dos Anjos credited Nate Diaz with being “a tough opponent” he reminded his listeners that the lightweight was only ranked fifth in the division.
Rafael, however, claimed he took no satisfaction in seeing McGregor lose, saying people who do so have a “loser’s mentality.”
“For me, I don’t care anybody’s loss. I think it’s a loser’s mentality to get happy with somebody losing. I don’t think like that, because one day I’m going to be there, on the Octagon, stepping there. So I don’t want anybody cheering for me to lose. I don’t want to be in that position.”
Dos Anjos did, however, claim that the brash Irishman got what he deserved and even said God himself had something to do with it.
“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.”
Rafael dos Anjos was no doubt referencing the sacrilegious comments Conor made previous to UFC 196. During a TMZ interview, McGregor claimed he would “whoop” Jesus’ “a**” in a fight.
At the UFC 197 press conference, Conor implied that he was a god, and that “gods respect other gods.”
The Irishman’s words did not sit well with many in the religious community, including dos Anjos, a devout Christian who frequently posts about his faith.
However, despite the possible wrath of God, Conor McGregor not only sits comfortably atop the UFC’s featherweight mountain, but took home $1 million in disclosed pay alone. That is almost 20 times more than what most fighters are paid to win.
Yet with his loss at UFC 196, it may be wise of Conor to stay on that mountain and not venture into lightweight territory.
But if he does, Rafael dos Anjos will no doubt be waiting for him.
[Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images]
