Rafael dos Anjos Mocks Conor McGregor for His El Chapo Shirt & Inaudible Accent
Rafael dos Anjos and Conor McGregor will duke it out inside the octagon at UFC 197 on March 5, 2016. But before exchanging punches and roundhouse kicks, the bitter rivals have already started exchanging equally nasty words.
Following the duo's UFC 197 press conference in Las Vegas, dos Anjos spoke about the upcoming fight to media members in his hometown of Rio de Janeiro.
MMA Fighting reported that the current UFC Lightweight champion was appalled by McGregor's choice of wardrobe, which was a clear homage to controversial Mexican drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman Loera.
"When I saw him with that shirt I thought he had lost it. What was up with that? It's horrible," said the 31-year old Brazilian fighter. "A friend of mine showed me a video of 'El Chapo' later, and then I understood about the drug dealer."
The UFC 197 press conference had to start without McGregor, since the reigning UFC Featherweight Champion was 30 minutes late. When the 27-year old Irishman finally arrived, journalists were delighted to see him wearing an ornately patterned dress shirt. Dos Anjos, however, was not pleased.
"He thinks he's the boss, he thinks he's God," said dos Anjos. "Like I said, the next step is his fall. He will get scared."
McGregor has been on a 15-fight winning streak. He has not tasted defeat since Nov. 27 2010, when Joseph Duffy forced him to tap out in the first round. Since then, he has since become the CWFC Featherweight champion, the CWFC Lightweight champion and the UFC Featherweight champion, per UFC.com.
Meanwhile, dos Anjos bagged the UFC Lightweight Championship belt on March 14, 2015 via a unanimous decision victory over Anthony Pettis. Ranked second on Sherdog's top pound-for-pound UFC fighters list, dos Anjos has successfully defended his title once, against American kick-boxer Donald Cerrone.
Leading up to UFC 197, dos Anjos and McGregor have been anything but cordial. The Brazilian fighter doesn't want to engage in personal attacks with the Irishman. He stated that he isn't a "trash talker" like his upcoming opponent.
On the other hand, McGregor has been constantly insulting dos Anjos. During the press conference, McGregor insisted that José Aldo is the true Brazilian champion, as per Fox Sports.
"That's why the people of Brazil love Jose Aldo. That's why when Jose Aldo steps off a plane, the country of Brazil greets him regardless of results," said the Irishman." When we're with Rafael in a four-day media run throughout Brazil in a couple of weeks and we've got to book him a hotel. I've got to book him a hotel in his own home country. That should tell you all you need to know."
Dos Anjos has since complained to Brazilian reporters about McGregor's accent. He said, "I speak English, but he has an accent that is hard to understand sometimes."
He added that he doesn't like being in press conferences, most especially when he has to sit through his opponent's crazy antics.