UFC 196: Rafael dos Anjos Won't Let Conor McGregor Make History
As far as UFC 196 is concerned, all the attention is on UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor.
"The Notorious" will try to become the first UFC fighter in history to hold two separate divisional titles, though the task is easier said than done.
Standing in the way is UFC lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos, who made it clear that he will be part of history but not in the way that many want. He doesn’t intend to let the Irishman make history at his expense.
"He’s not going to make history over me," dos Anjos said when he appeared on "The MMA Hour" recently.
McGregor has nothing much to lose other than pride. The Brazilian champion, however, could end up being dethroned and become the next victim to the brash rise of McGregor.
In fact, the Brazilian is entering UFC 196 pretty confident, believing that he holds all the cards against his latest challenger.
“I think if I fight a jiu-jitsu match with him, I’ll beat him. If I fight a karate match with him, I’ll beat him. If I fight a K-1 rules with him, I’d beat him. I think I can beat him anywhere. I’m going to do my job, I’m going to do whatever I’ve been doing with my fights,” added dos Anjos in the same interview.
It will be interesting to see what kind of fight plan dos Anjos will use. Critics believe that it would be best for him to ground McGregor, who is likely to turn to speed to make up for the weight advantage that dos Anjos has.
Then again, the champ can opt to engage in a furious offensive, though the question of stamina comes into play.
McGregor is no Donald Cerrone or Ben Henderson, but his agility is certainly something the Brazilian may want to consider. McGregor is unlikely to engage in a power fight and would rather wait for the proper opening to strike, though it may take a while to get that.
Confident as he may, dos Anjos respects McGregor as a fighter, though he believes he is at a different level. Aside from McGregor’s agility, he knows he will need to watch out for the Irishman’s counters and straight left.
As far as he is concerned, he doesn’t see the fight going five rounds. His prediction is that the fight will be over in the first two or three rounds. Aside from that, he reiterated that he will render as much punishment as he can, vowing to break McGregor on March 5 in Las Vegas.
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