Rafael dos Anjos wants to 'punish' Conor McGregor, 'make him bleed' for 'all the disrespect'
LAS VEGAS -- Rafael dos Anjos is putting the anger of all of Conor McGregor's past opponents on his back.
The UFC lightweight champion said Wednesday at the UFC 197 on-sale press conference that he could finish McGregor quickly, but he won't. Instead, he wants to brutalize McGregor for all the outrageous things he has said over the years.
"I'm gonna have a chance to finish this fight in the first round," dos Anjos said. "But I want to punish him all the way until the third, until the fourth. I'm gonna make him bleed. He's gonna pay for everything he's talking about everybody. For all the disrespect this guy has. I'm gonna punish him for long minutes."
Dos Anjos defends his belt against McGregor in the main event of the huge card March 5 here at MGM Grand. Just seconds after the fight was announced last week, McGregor went on the offense, calling dos Anjos a traitor for leaving his native Brazil and moving to California. Dos Anjos lives and trains in Orange County.
"For me, it doesn't make any sense," dos Anjos said. "The whole world has American dreams. This country has people from all parts of the world. We have Irish who live here, we have Brazilians. I think these people don't deserve to be called traitors. I just think about that. This guy is calling me traitor just because I live here. I have my kids here. I live with my family. We have people around the world who live in the United States and these people don't deserve to be called traitors."
McGregor (19-2) said Wednesday that it was just games -- "games or facts depending on who you ask." The brash Irishman stayed on dos Anjos, saying he himself still lives in Dublin, while dos Anjos has abandoned his home country for the U.S. McGregor said Jose Aldo was a true Brazilian champion and dos Anjos needs a hotel room for a media tour next week in Brazil, because he owns no place there.
Dos Anjos (25-7) was visibly upset by the verbal warfare, but didn't engage all that much. Admittedly so.
"I'm not a trash talker," dos Anjos said. "I respect my opponents. I talk the truth. I don't trash talk, I just talk the truth. On March 5, I'm gonna send this guy home sad and I'm gonna keep my belt."
Dos Anjos did get in a few digs, though. McGregor, the UFC's featherweight champion, is moving up to lightweight for this bout. Dos Anjos said he's only taking this fight so he can keep the 145-pound belt a little longer.
"If he loses, he don't [lose] anything," dos Anjos said. "It's smart. He's trying to go up. I'm gonna beat him, I'm gonna send him back to 145 and he's still champion."