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With the way Conor McGregor now refers to Jose Aldo, you’d think the two were old pals and not historic rivals.
McGregor spoke of his last opponent in reverential tones Wednesday morning at the MGM Grand, all to the detriment of his next opponent. McGregor challenges Rafael dos Anjos for the lightweight title in the main event of UFC 197 March 5 at MGM, and expects an even easier fight than he encountered in a 13-second knockout over Aldo in December.
“It’s honestly like a slower, sloppier, more stuffed version of Aldo,” McGregor said of dos Anjos. “I swear I would love to beat the ugly out of him and drag it into the second round and third rounds, but I feel I’m going to dust him in under one minute.”
McGregor’s UFC 194 victory made him the only featherweight champion in promotional history other than Aldo. Now against dos Anjos, he’ll look to become the only fighter to ever simultaneously hold championship belts in two different divisions.
After verbally harassing Aldo for years, McGregor tempered his act in the months leading up to their fight. The 27-year-old from Dublin, Ireland, made it clear dos Anjos, a 31-year-old from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, wouldn’t receive the same treatment at the news conference to kick off UFC 197 ticket sales.
McGregor went through with the tried combat-sports trope of attacking his opponent’s nationality.
“Seeing the pride the Brazilians carried for Jose and the pride Jose carried for the Brazilian people touched my heart,” he said. “This is one of the main reasons I wanted give back to the country of Brazil and on March 5, I will behead Rafael dos Anjos. I will drag his head through the streets of Rio de Janeiro to a parade of people, I imagine, and it will become a national holiday.”
Dos Anjos relocated to Southern California four years ago to enhance his training options, a strategic move that has paid major dividends. After going 4-4 in his first eight UFC bouts, dos Anjos has won 10 of his last 11 including seven straight to capture the title in the weight class widely considered the sport’s toughest.
McGregor accused dos Anjos of ditching his home country, going as far as to suggest he’s given in and “learned the language of the oppressor.” Dos Anjos grew frustrated Wednesday with McGregor’s constant interruptions and taunts.
“It doesn’t make any sense,” dos Anjos said. “The whole world has American dreams. This country has people from all different parts of the world. They have high rates of Brazilians here. These people don’t deserve to be called traitors.”
Dos Anjos knows he needs to exercise caution to not allow McGregor’s mind games any influence in the fight. He hypothesized that as one area where Aldo faltered.
“I think he rushed out a little bit at the start of the fight,” dos Anjos said. “Maybe he let the emotions come, but I think it was just that. I think if they fought 10 times, Aldo would beat him nine.”
Dos Anjos promised to inflict harm — though unlike his opponent, he predicted the fight going into the third or fourth round — on behalf of everyone McGregor has insulted including Aldo. But McGregor makes it sound like Aldo requires no retribution.
In his mind, the former featherweight champion is much more honorable than the current lightweight champion.
“We’re sending Rafael on a four-day media run throughout Brazil in a couple weeks and I’ve got to book him a hotel in his home country,” McGregor said. “He will never step off a plane in the country of Brazil and receive a hero’s welcome because he ran from the country of Brazil. He didn’t trust his own. That’s why Jose is the true champion in his country. This guy, in Brazilian lingo, is a gringo.”
Case Keefer can be reached at 702-948-2790 or [email protected]. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer.
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