Rafael dos Anjos vs. Conor McGregor is always one of the biggest what-ifs in MMA history.
Dos Anjos and McGregor were set to headline UFC 196 as the Irishman was looking to become a champ-champ and win the lightweight title. It was a highly-anticipated fight, but less than two weeks before the fight, dos Anjos broke his foot in training and was forced out of the bout.
According to Rafael dos Anjos, he says he got hurt by sparring with an untrustworthy training partner whom he already had talked about his coach about not wanting to train with.
Rafael dos Anjos details how he got hurt before the Conor McGregor fight
“Oh ya, I would make good money that night. I can’t complain, everything I ask for, I have,” Rafael dos Anjos said on Jaxxon Podcast. “Of course, that would have been a big payday. I was just mad, sad at the time, not because of the money but because I didn’t get to fight him, That was my first time pulling out to injury and the way it happened, there was a guy that was helping us at the gym, and he as kind of mimicking Conor’s style, but I found him really desperate when he was training. He was putting in too much risk, and at the time, I went to Rafael Cordeiro and I told Rafael don’t bring this guy anymore, he’s throwing crazy spinning wheel kicks, and I needed to stay away from this type of guy.
“He pulled the guy aside and a month went by. Last sparring session before the fight, like 10 days out, 12 days out, we were sparring, last round, Rafael said everyone pick an opponent, it’s partner, last round. Everybody picked a partner and he was the only one who was left. I didn’t want to be rude and say, hey man, I don’t want to spar with you. Rafael goes okay, Rafa go with him. The first kick I threw, it wasn’t even hard, he checked my kick and I broke my foot. That is how it happened. It is what it is,” dos Anjos continued.
Unfortunately, due to the injury, Rafael dos Anjos had to withdraw from the bout. The Brazilian ended up losing his lightweight title in the next fight against Eddie Alvarez, who then got the Conor McGregor fight.
