Former UFC lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos recently said Dana White is going to “punish” Islam Makhachev by not giving him a title fight next.
Dos Anjos is currently ranked No. 7 at 155 pounds, and he’s scheduled to battle No. 10 Rafael Fiziev on July 9. And should he win, he wants to fight Charles Oliveira for the vacant belt later this year, he told MMA Fighting in a recent interview. Oliveira’s belt was vacated after he missed weight for his UFC 274 showdown against Justin Gaethje earlier this month.
“RDA” believes there’s an opportunity to leapfrog other contenders in the division, specifically No. 4 Makhachev. Makhachev has been touted by many in the MMA world as the next logical fight for Oliveira.
However, he may still have to go through No. 3 Beneil Dariush. The two were originally scheduled to fight in February, but Dariush pulled out with a leg injury and was replaced by Bobby Green, who Makhachev dispatched in under one round.
Dos Anjos and Fiziev were then scheduled to fight a week after Makhachev’s victory over Green, however Fiziev tested positive for COVID-19 and was forced out of the fight. Makhachev threw his name in the hat as a late replacement for Fiziev.
According to the UFC president, Makhachev then turned down the fight with dos Anjos, and instead, RDA fought and defeated Renato Moicano. White told Barstool Sports’ Robbie Fox that he was going to remake the Makhachev vs. Dariush fight “since he turned down this fight.”
Dos Anjos Wants a ‘Brazil vs. Brazil’ Fight in December Against Oliveira, Said White Is Going to ‘Punish’ Makhachev
If the former lightweight champion gets his way, he’ll get past Fiziev in July and then fight Oliveira for the vacant belt in December in Brazil.
He told MMA Fighting that White is going to “punish” Makhachev for not taking the fight against him, which leaves the door open for RDA.
“The division is crazy right now,” dos Anjos said via the outlet. “It was crazy before, but now it’s even crazier. I believe if everything is going according to what Dana [White] said, Islam is going to fight Beneil [Dariush] in October in Abu Dhabi. Since Islam plays all those games against me, he didn’t take the fight, now Dana is going to punish him and keep him to fight Beneil and not going to let him fight for the belt.
“If that happens, I heard the UFC is going to do a big show in Brazil in December, and why not Brazil vs. Brazil? Once I get past Fiziev, me against Charles would be a great fight.”
And part of the stakes in RDA’s eyes is to see who the greatest 155-pound Brazilian champion is. “We’ll see who is the best Brazilian lightweight champion of all time,” dos Anjos continued. “That would be great.”
Dos Anjos Said He Agreed to Meet Makhachev at 170 Pounds, Fight Still Didn’t Materialize
During the interview, RDA explained that he weighed 170 pounds when Makhachev volunteered to fight him in March. In his call-out of RDA, Makhachev said he wanted to fight at welterweight as well.
But, dos Anjos said that even though he agreed to fight Makhachev at welterweight, “in the morning, the deal fell out on his side.”
“I don’t blame anybody for not taking a fight on short-notice, but since you put your name out there, you’ve got to go,” RDA continued. “If you don’t put your name, that’s fine. But you can’t [say], ‘OK, I’m taking the fight’ and he accepted, now, ‘I’m not taking it.’ That’s not cool.”
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Ex-UFC Champ Says Dana White Is Going to ‘Punish’ Fighter