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Conor McGregor's claim that refusing drug tests is necessary for his recovery is rejected by Rafael dos Anjos. Dos Anjos still wants to fight him, regardless of whether the former two-division champion is acting dishonestly behind the scenes.
“I’ll fight him now,” dos Anjos said Monday on The MMA Hour. “Just say OK, come to Las Vegas. That’s a guy that everything he’s for, I’m against. All his values are against my values. Let me put it this way: If we are in high school, that’s the type of guy that we’re going to fight in the school. That’s for sure. I don’t like him, and I want this fight.”
Dos Anjos called out McGregor in his post-fight speech this past Saturday at UFC Orlando after defeating Bryan Barberena, making that very clear. He claims that because McGregor will soon be making a comeback following breaking his leg at UFC 264, he should be given the chance to complete their unfinished business since he was forced to withdraw from UFC 196 due to a broken foot.
“When I’m putting myself in his shoes, who [is he] going to fight?” dos Anjos asked. “Is he going to fight Poirier again for the fourth time? He’s going to fight Michael Chandler, who’s not even in the division he wants to fight? He looks like he’s juicing up – he’s not going to fight at 155 any more. He’s going to fight at 170, and also, with all due respect to Michael Chandler, he’s been putting on great fights, but he’s been losing a lot.
“We have a history. We were supposed to fight two or three times already, and let’s go. Let’s bring the bad blood again. It will be a fun fight.”
Since it was revealed that McGregor had left the USADA drug testing pool, his comeback has been under under scrutiny. The Irish star has previously been accused of doping by at least one notable UFC athlete, who also voiced displeasure over what he saw to be a double standard for other fighters who are only permitted to leave the pool if they retire or are dismissed from their contract. As a result, McGregor has slammed detractors and justified his absence as an essential component of his recovery. He recently stated that his treatment plan was "completely known before I began" and expressed the goal of joining the testing pool again in February 2023.
Anderson Silva and Chris Weidman were mentioned by McGregor as fighters who might relate to his situation. However, those combatants support dos Anjos' argument, in his opinion. He referred to the notion that "The Notorious" would have to withdraw from the testing pool due to a broken leg as "absolute BS."
“I broke my jaw, man, in two pieces,” dos Anjos said. “I’ve went through a lot. All the fights, Anderson Silva, Chris Weidman, and actually that injury looks bad. I’m not a doctor, but I know what I’m talking about. That injury looks bad, but it’s not worse than an ACL re-injury. You recover from that way quicker than an ACL injury, because that’s bone to bone. When it heals, you put in a plate, you’re 100 percent. You’ve just got to do some tgherapy, but ACL injury is way worse than that. So that’s no an excuse.”
The Brazilian vet can think of just one reason for McGregor's behaviour. If McGregor did really utilise prohibited performance enhancers, why would he remove himself from the USADA pool, he was questioned directly. He seems bulked up. He seems large. He wouldn't withdraw himself from the USADA pool if he weren't. That's strange.
Dos Anjos insists on getting what he wants despite his disapproval of McGregor and his persona, and he thinks the UFC is on board.
“I got the sense [the UFC likes the idea], and I think the fight was supposed to happen seven years ago,” he said. “On that card, [Kamaru] Usman was fighting Leon [Edwards] on the prelims. Francis Ngannou was doing his debut. I’m still here winning fights, finishing people, and I deserve that fight for everything I’ve done for the company. I believe it would sell a lot.”