RDA: It’s good McGregor’s in my head
Rafael Dos Anjos: “Talk about my wife, my kids, Jesus, my team. What can I do? He’s a lunatic. I will answer him on March 5.”
Signing to fight Conor McGregor is a red panty night financially, but to reach that check, you get trash talked by a master for months. UFC lightweight champion Rafael Dos Anjos is no exception.
At the first UFC 197 press conference, McGregor talked about RDA’s children and his faith, all while wearing a shirt popularized by the just arrested Mexican drug dealer ‘El Chapo’ which means shorty.
“He crosses the line all the time,” said dos Anjos in Niteroi, Brazil, as translated by Guilherme Cruz for MMAFighting.com. “He answered questions the media asked me, talked about my kids, said I’m not a Brazilian. Man, all the time. He said I’m sloppy. He crosses the line all the time.
“He’s here to confuse everyone, give the sport a bad image. He thinks it’s nice to dress up like a drug dealer. I don’t think that’s a nice way to promote a fight. That doesn’t add anything to the sport. Georges St-Pierre always sold well as a champion doing exactly the opposite.”
“(Talking about my kids) bothered me, but I knew he would bring those weapons. I was ready for that. Talk about my wife, my kids, Jesus, my team. What can I do? He’s a lunatic. I will answer him on March 5. Werdum called me saying ‘my friend, go get him, throw something at him, a bottle’. But that’s not my style. I will answer him when the time comes. On March 5, I will be the one doing the talk.”
“Every opponent gets inside my head because I think about them for three of four months. He’s in my head just like every other opponent before. I wake up thinking about him, I go to the gym thinking about him. That’s how he’s in my head. Nate Diaz pushed me at the weigh-in, but I fight ever better when my opponents make it personal. I will dominate him.”
“Aldo had to listen to this guy for a long time, and I will only listen for two months. I won’t have to see this guy until fight week now. I will dominate him on March 5. I’ll put him back to his place. I think I have the experience. It’s my 20th fight in the UFC. I’m not saying the others weren’t focused, but I will be calm on fight night and use my strategy because I know the victory is mine. I know this guy won’t make history over me. I’m super confident I will beat him up.”
“His predictions have worked so far, but he only met the good side of the UFC. Everything he planned has worked so far. I’ve seen both the good and bad sides of the UFC. On March 5, I will show him the bad side of the sport. His crystal ball is blurry. He thinks he’s seeing something, but it’s going to be quite the opposite.”
Conor McGregor fights Rafael Dos Anjos at UFC 197: Dos Anjos vs. McGregor on March 5, 2016 at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.