UFC 197 News: Conor McGregor's Coach Describes Dos Anjos Bout As 'Warm-Up Fight'
The camp of reigning UFC featherweight champion and apparent lightweight title contender Conor McGregor has continued to fire shots against 155-pound king Rafael dos Anjos.
After a brief period of having the fight in jeopardy due to some contract issues, the UFC 197 title fight between the Brazilian and Irishman has been made official on Tuesday.
Co-headlining the said event is another title fight in the bantamweight division between champion Holly Holm and two-time challenger Miesha Tate. It is slated to take place on March 5 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
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What led to McGregor being pitted against dos Anjos was how he made quick work of long-time featherweight champion José Aldo in their title showdown last December 12 at UFC 194 in the same venue.
"The Notorious" stopped Aldo within 13 seconds of the fight using one clean straight left to the jaw. It is now the fastest finish in UFC title fight history, with Ronda Rousey's finish of Cat Zingano at UFC 184 coming at a close second.
McGregor's confidence has always been at peak level, but the victory over Aldo put it on an all-time high. That apparently has been carried over now that he's facing Dos Anjos. In a column he wrote on Tuesday for Irish media outlet The 42, McGregor's coach, John Kavanagh, spoke on behalf of his fighter and gave a self-assessment about their upcoming task at hand.
Kavanaugh also briefly touched on Frankie Edgar, who was once again bypassed for a featherweight title shot which was promised to him UFC president Dana White.
"I know Frankie is eager to get his shot, and he will. It's not unusual for a champion to wait until the summertime to defend their belt — there are plenty of recent examples — so perhaps that's when Frankie's time will come," Kavanagh wrote. "Look at this as a warm-up fight, albeit a dangerous one against the lightweight champion."
