“I have this strong trait: When it becomes personal, it’s even better for me. I fight better that way. I’m sure I’ll be cold-blooded and dominate the action, put on the pressure and mix takedowns, punches and kicks to confuse his head… His predictions have been right so far, but he’s only known the good side of the UFC. I’ve been through the bad and the good, so I think I’ll show him the bad side. His crystal ball is going to be blurred, he won’t be able to see what’s going to happen. He is seeing something, but something completely different will happen.”
-UFC Lightweight Champ Rafael dos Anjos talks to media in Brazil (via UFC.com) about his UFC 197 matchup with Conor McGregor, and why the UFC Featherweight Champion won’t prove prescient on March 5.
Penick’s Analysis: If dos Anjos can prove McGregor’s “under one minute” prediction wrong real quick, and can start and continue to frustrate the Featherweight Champion as the fight wears on, that could start putting things significantly in his favor the longer it goes. Of course, given what we’ve seen from McGregor, he only needs a short amount of time to score when there’s an opening, meaning dos Anjos could be facing down danger start to finish in this one, regardless of any successes he may have. It’s such an intriguing fight because of all the intangibles and the unknowns in how they’ll wind up matching up with one another from a skill for skill standpoint, and that makes for a hell of an exciting event on March 5.
[Photo (c) Joe Camporeale via USA Today Sports]
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