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Rafael dos Anjos is looking to re-book a super-fight that fell through in 2016. RDA was the Lightweight Champion and Conor McGregor was moving up from Featherweight to challenge for his title.

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However, RDA had to pull out and would later lose the belt and the opportunity to Eddie Alvarez. After rebounding with a win over Paul Felder, RDA decided to bring Conor up again.

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Conor responded to RDA’s fight offer on Twitter, saying he was in. RDA simply said, “My manager showed me that. He’s in, I’m in too. Let’s make it happen.”

RDA cruised to a split decision win over Paul Felder at UFC Vegas 14. Yes, he ‘cruised’ to a split decision although one of the judges bizarrely scored the fight in favor of Felder.

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However, it was clear that RDA had won the fight and the other two judges thankfully avoided a total scandal by awarding the fight to Felder.

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Rafael dos Anjos vs Conor McGregor?

RDA also explained why he is the one that should fight Conor next after his win over Felder.“I think Khabib leaving the division for retirement will leave the division wide open. If you look at the rankings, we have three former interim champions.

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“Tony, Gaethje, and Dustin Poirier. The only two real champs of the division was me and Conor, and we were scheduled to fight twice.”

He added, “I’m just saying the fight that makes sense. It does make sense. I never pull out for any fight due injury, that was my first fight I had to pull out due injury.

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“I had my 30th UFC appearance tonight, I’ve been in the company for 12 years. I’ve done a lot. I think champion retiring, Khabib is stepping out and retiring, I think that could be a good matchup.”

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While it would be fun to see this throwback fight, it is unlikely that it happens. Conor’s star power is far too high to have a fight with RDA right now when there are a lot more appetizing mainstream matchups for him.

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This includes Tony Ferguson, Justin Gaethje, Dustin Poirier, and even Michael Chandler. However, RDA’s name is definitely in the mix now.

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Written by

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Ishaan Bhattacharya

1,510 Articles

Ishaan Bhattacharya is an NBA, NCAA Basketball, and Combat Sports writer at EssentiallySports. Currently, Ishaan is pursuing a Post Graduate Degree in Journalism from Xavier's Institute of Communication. Previously, Ishaan has written for The Indian Express, The Quint, Sportskeeda, and WrestleClub. Ishaan has a keen interest in theatre and films, and has dabbled in the art, winning several awards for his scripts over the years. He has written for popular YouTube channels such as The Wrestling Hub and WhatCulture. Now, Ishaan also heads the site's NCAA Basketball division.

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