So the next UFC event I was due to cover after Fight Night 84 this weekend, was UFC 196 on March 5th, Connor McGregor VS Rafael dos Anjos for the lightweight title. News broke earlier today that Anjos has now had to pull out due to breaking his foot. This is a massive shame because if McGregor had beaten Anjos, he would have been the first fighter in UFC history to hold two belts in two different weight classes at the same time.
Anjos’ manager has advised that the break will take between 6-8 weeks to heal so there is no chance of him fighting in this event. There does however seem to be a pattern forming here as, two weeks before McGregor was due to fight for the featherweight title against Jose Aldo, Aldo pulled out with a rib injury. The fight was eventually rearranged and McGregor went on to knock Aldo out with a spectacular left hook to the chin.
The UFC are currently looking to replace Anjos with another fighter as they want to keep McGregor on the bill for the Las Vegas pay per view event. There has been talk around Donald Cerrone stepping in to replace Anjos despite only fighting as recently as the 21st of February. There is also talk around Nate Diaz taking the fight, but judging by his Twitter comment stating “He’s going to have to get on his knees and beg”, this may take some doing. McGregor is in no way the kind of guy who will beg someone to fight him.
Since writing this article last night it has now been agreed that Connor McGregor will face Nate Diaz at the event as the main fight of the evening but this will no longer be a title match and will also be fought at Welterweight (170lbs) as Diaz does not have enough time to cut weight down to Lightweight (155lbs). This will be an awesome fight as both fighters are not fans of each other and McGregor has been hoping to fight Diaz eventually anyway and both fighters are known for not mixing there words so I’m expecting a war.
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