UPDATE: Rafael dos Anjos is officially out of his UFC 196 bout with Conor McGregor due to a foot injury. RDA broke his foot while training ahead of the fight and had to withdrawal. No replacement has been announced, though the UFC has started contacting fighters to step in with less than two weeks notice.
Conor McGregor is the talk of the MMA world and with that comes rampant speculation as to who he would fight after his dominant win over Jose Aldo. Books have already listed odds for potential fights with Frankie Edgar and a rematch against Aldo. However, McGregor has gotten his wish and will take on Rafael dos Anjos for the UFC lightweight title at UFC 196.
The early line released by Sportsbook had the fight as a virtual pick’em as McGregor was listed at -105 and dos Anjos at -125. Since then, McGregor has seen his line shift to -150 with a lot of public action coming in on the Irishman.
Claiming his second title will not be an easy task for McGregor. RDA has cemented himself as one of the best pound-four-pound fighters in the world after dominating Anthony Pettis and Donald Cerrone in his past two fights. Not to take anything away from Aldo, McGregor's past opponent, but dos Anjos is in his prime and is still handily defeating elite opponents.
McGregor has proven every doubter wrong in his MMA career and has ended four of his seven UFC fights within the first round. The Irishman has a lethal and unique striking game that has never truly been seen before in MMA.
Since joining Kings MMA, dos Anjos has been nearly unstoppable. Coach Rafael Cordeiro has given the lightweight champion a fantastic, bread-and-butter striking game to compliment his third degree black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
UFC 196 will take place on March 5 in Las Vegas. That date is nearly three months removed from both McGregor and dos Anjos' last fights which both took place in December.
- Rafael dos Anjos +120
- Conor McGregor -150
