By Anthony Caruso III | Publisher
Rafael dos Anjos has withdrawn from his mega-fight with Conor McGregor. dos Anjos suffered a broken foot in his training last week for the March 5 main event in Las Vegas at UFC 196.
dos Anjos will be out for at least a month in his recovery from the broken foot.
McGregor was stepping up to face dos Anjos at a different weight class. But with this news, President Dana White may scrap this idea for the time being.
With it being so close to the fight, it’s going to be hard to find a replacement. Holly Holm vs. Meisha Tate for the women’s bantamweight championship may become the headliner.
This is the second straight main event that’s been ruined by injuries. Fabricio Werdum and Cain Velasquez were scheduled to be in the main event of UFC 196.
However, it was moved from that card. It recently became a UFC Fight Night bout.
According to Yahoo Sports, Ali Abdelaziz, dos Anjos’ manager, said the injury happened on Friday.
“He threw a kick and the guy he was sparring with checked the kick,” Abdelaziz said to Yahoo. “It hurt a little, but he continued to spar. After that, it began swelling badly and I called the UFC. They sent him to a doctor, who said it’s broken.”
After being informed that dos Anjos was out, White offered the fight to Frankie Edgar, who turned it down. He cited an injury, as the reason why he turned down the opportunity.
Jose Aldo, who lost to McGregor in Dec. also turned down a fight.
“When we told Conor, he said, ‘ Come on! This [expletive guy]! Oh my God! He’s pulling out?’ ” White told Yahoo. “But when we went through the options, he said he’d fight any of them.
“I swear to God, he said, ‘I’ll fight anyone.’ He just doesn’t give a [expletive]. People talk about this strained relationship between us and Conor, and he has a different style than I’ve ever seen, but I have never seen anyone like Conor. The closest was Chuck Liddell, but we’ve never had one like Conor. You think he’s not hurt? But when he says he’s going to fight, he going to fight no matter what.”
