After vanquishing Renato
Carneiro in the
UFC 272 co-main event, Rafael dos
Anjos believes it’s time to potentially revisit a showdown with
Conor
McGregor.
It’s the type of matchup that would appropriately motivate the
37-year-old Brazilian at this stage of his career.
“I think the moment that we live in right now, that fight would
make a lot of sense,” dos Anjos said at the UFC 272 post-fight
press conference. “I was on a 16-month layoff. Conor broke his leg
and is coming back in the summer, I think. That would make sense.
The division is kind of crazy right now and I think that fight
would make a lot of sense. …
“That would be a big money fight, of course. We have a history,
too. Like I said, I’m looking for names that make me want to go to
the gym and train. It’s been so many years in this game. I don’t
want to fight names that don’t interest me, that don’t push me to
go to the gym. I’m 37 years old. [I’ve] fought pretty much
everybody in two divisions.”
When dos Anjos was lightweight champion, he was scheduled for a
blockbuster showdown with McGregor, who was then the featherweight
title holder, at UFC 196. That fight fell through when dos Anjos
broke his foot, setting the stage for Round 1 of the
McGregor-Nate Diaz
rivalry.
With the current climate of the lightweight division, dos Anjos
likes the possibility of a bout against McGregor once the Irish
star heals from a broken leg suffered against Dustin
Poirier last July.
“It looks like Islam [Makhachev] is going to fight Beneil
Dariush,” dos Anjos said . “He had a chance to fight me tonight
and he didn’t. At 170 pounds, I took that fight. They [didn’t]. I
don’t know. It looks like Conor is coming back in the summer. That
could be a good one. A title fight is already scheduled. We’ll see,
man. A lot of things can happen.
“I just want to be active. I want to be training. I need good
names. I’ve been in this game for so many years and fought
everybody in two divisions. I need names that make me want to go to
the gym and train hard for it. That’s what I want.”