Conor McGregor reacted after Rafael dos Anjos was tabbed as the backup for his UFC 264 main event fight against Dustin Poirier.
On Wednesday, reports emerged that dos Anjos was spotted in Las Vegas and was cutting weight in preparation for Friday’s weigh-in ahead of UFC 264. Apparently dos Anjos was brought in by the UFC as the backup fighter for the UFC 264 main event just in case anything happens to either McGregor or Poirier. In the event that someone gets injured, sick, or doesn’t pass COVID-19 protocols, the UFC will have dos Anjos step in and fight on Saturday night. The hope is that it doesn’t come to that, but RDA is insurance either way.
Responding to the reports that dos Anjos is the backup fighter at UFC 264, McGregor took to his social media early Thursday morning to react to the news about his former rival.
McGregor and dos Anjos were previously scheduled to meet back at UFC 196 in March 2016, but dos Anjos was forced to withdraw from the fight due to an injury, and he was replaced on short notice by Nate Diaz, who stepped into the Octagon and pulled off a gigantic upset over McGregor that night. Five years later and it appears as though there is a chance that McGregor and dos Anjos will finally square off inside the Octagon in case anything happens to Poirier in the next 48 hours. There is also the chance that Poirier could end up fighting dos Anjos if McGregor isn’t good to go. Hopefully, both McGregor and Poirier make it to the fight like expected, but the UFC has brought in insurance just in case.
