Rafael dos Anjos lost his UFC 308 welterweight clash against Geoff Neal in ninety seconds. It seems the Brazilian former champ sustained a freak injury during the bout as he hit the canvas for the second time in that fight, which led the referee to wave off the fight.

But Joe Rogan, on his Fight Companion episode for UFC 308, recalled back when ‘RDA’ was the man, and was set to fight Conor McGregor at UFC 196. Now the 40-year-old is on a horrible run of form having lost four of his last five bouts. But back then, in 2016, when he was slated to fight ‘Mac’, he was many people’s favorite going into the bout with the young and hungry McGregor. But alas, the Brazilian broke his foot back then and was forced to pull out, as Rogan recounted to his friends.

“I was just thinking about Rafael dos Anjos. Remember when he broke his foot when he was supposed to fight Conor [McGregor]? He was kinda the favorite to win. He was a scary guy. He was a beast when he was the champion. Yeah, he’s older. And I believe he only has one ACL,” Rogan said on the UFC 308 Fight Companion episode.

McGregor, of course, was moving up from the featherweight division after clinching that division’s gold in an all-timer against Jose Aldo to lightweight, and dos Anjos, who was fresh off winning his title, was to be his first step. Fans will remember Dana White claiming before the fight that ‘Mac’ had no chance against ‘RDA’, saying “I don’t see how he wins this fight.”  Not to mention the Brazilian pulling out would lead to one of the most iconic moments in the history of mixed martial arts.

The incredibly entertaining tale of Conor McGregor vs. Rafael dos Anjos’ canceled clash

The lead-up to the UFC 196 dos Anjos vs. McGregor fight saw ‘Mac’ at his verbose best and at the height of his fighting abilities. Fans will remember the Irishman showing up to a press conference dressed as notorious criminal Luis ‘El Chapo’ Guzman. Not to mention the Irishman was unbeaten in the UFC at that point and looked nigh unconquerable.

‘RDA’ pulled out of their slated clash two weeks from the fight due to a broken foot, for which McGregor had trolled him relentlessly. The Dubliner had claimed that the broken foot was “just a bruise” and suggested that taking some ibuprofen and putting some ice on the broken foot would have been enough for ‘RDA’ to make it to the fight. In a clear case of poetic justice, dos Anjos would throw this insult back at ‘Mac’ after the latter pulled out of his scheduled UFC 303 clash against Michael Chandler earlier this year due to a broken pinky toe.

But back in 2016, ‘RDA’ was replaced by Nate Diaz at UFC 196. And Diaz, of course, shocked the world by beating Conor McGregor in the second round of their welterweight clash, submitting him with a rear naked choke after having taken the fight out of the heavy favorite Irishman. What do you think about Joe Rogan reminiscing about Rafael dos Anjos’ slated clash against Conor McGregor?