We’ve got 64 days of trash talk on the horizon.
We weren’t exactly left wanting prior to the announcement that Conor McGregor will try to make history against Rafael dos Anjos at UFC 197, but there’s no doubt that the war of words is set to escalate before March 5.
One of the more interesting jibes thus far has come from McGregor who’s accused his upcoming opponent of being “a traitor to his people”
And the Brazilian has hit back in an interview with MMAFighting, in which he has rubbished McGregor’s claims.
“It doesn’t make any sense,” Dos Anjos told David St. Martin. “We have a lot of Brazilians in the United States. It doesn’t mean we’re traitors to our country. I’ve got kids and I had to move for different things like better wrestling training partners here.
“I think that was a frustrated way to try to win the Brazilian fans. This guy is out of his mind. He’s going to try to do his best to try to mess with my head. I don’t hate him, but the Brazilians do. Brazil is on my side.”
The UFC lightweight champion doesn’t feel that he’s in any genuine danger of losing his belt, despite the fact that McGregor has held two titles in European promotion Cage Warriors. In fact, Dos Anjos remains thoroughly unimpressed with the competition that ‘The Notorious’ has faced prior to his UFC career.
“UFC lightweight division isn’t the belt he got in Ireland when he fought a guy with a record of 2-7,” Dos Anjos said. “It’s a different world.
“He fought guys that don’t even have Sherdog pages. He holds belts off his amateur show in Ireland. It’s a different story to hold two UFC belts.”
