AWARE THAT A fight with Conor McGregor is extremely lucrative, plenty of fighters have been vocal in the media about facing the UFC interim featherweight champion.
One of those is current UFC lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos, who’s had his say on McGregor several times recently. His latest comments came from an interview with Combate.
According to dos Anjos, McGregor hasn’t got a chance against Jose Aldo and would have been beaten by Chad Mendes if the American had been given more time to prepare.
“McGregor’s really scrawny. Aldo would destroy him. He’s not even close to [being ranked in the] top five,” said dos Anjos, who caused a major shock back in March when he defeated Anthony Pettis to clinch the UFC’s 155lbs title.
Dos Anjos was in attendance last month at UFC 189 in Las Vegas as McGregor overcame Chad Mendes to be crowned the UFC’s interim featherweight champion, but the Brazilian wasn’t impressed.
Dos Anjos said: “This guy’s no good. Aldo would destroy him. Chad Mendes, if prepared, would destroy him and he showed. I saw McGregor, he’s really scrawny, like a little chicken.
“Chad Mendes is strong, but not Conor. He was exposed in that fight. That’s who he is. I never saw Chad walking backwards in a fight, he’s always pressuring. A minute in, the guy was exhausted.
“[TJ] Dillashaw [UFC bantamweight champion and a team-mate of Mendes] was standing next to me and I asked about Chad’s cardio. He said, ‘He’s good to go three rounds, but not five. Anyway, he’s always in shape.’
“A minute into the fight, he was tired and still beat the shit out of Conor in the first and second round, but I believe McGregor is not even close to being a top five [ranked contender in the division].”
McGregor has often spoken of his desire to eventually move up a weight class and compete alongside dos Anjos at 155lbs. If that happens, dos Anjos claims that he’d be eager to introduce him to the division… even if the fight takes place in Ireland.
“I would love for him to move up to lightweight,” dos Anjos said of McGregor, who won the Cage Warriors lightweight belt in December 2012 before being signed by the UFC as a featherweight.
“It would be easy money to beat that kid,” dos Anjos continued. “I would love to welcome him at lightweight in Ireland. It’s hard to say how the fight would go, but it would be aggressive. I would punch him hard [and] go hard on him, because he breaks.”
So that’s another one for the list of Conor McGregor’s potential future opponents. Join the queue, Rafa.
H/T: MMANews.com
