UFC 197 Double Bout Predictions: McGregor vs. Dos Anjos & Tate vs Holm

Appearing beltless in accordance with his push in a new division, McGregor frequently interrupted the Brazilian champion in mid-sentence and then leaned back to admire his work, setting up a tense staredown to promote their lightweight title fight on March 5 at UFC 197. At UFC 197 it will be Holly Holm and Miesha Tate who’ll play curtain-raisers as Holm makes the first defence of the bantamweight belt she unceremoniously stripped from Ronda Rousey in November.

“This guy, in Brazilian lingo, is a gringo, and that is the truth”, McGregor said. “I will get back to Dublin, we will do the show, but it takes time”.

“I will behead Rafael dos Anjos“, McGregor said at a UFC press conference.

“This guy is calling me a traitor just because I live here with my kids and family”.

“He is a free TV fighter, he has nothing else to offer me but that gold belt”, McGregor said.

The Irishman left his hand out, despite the slight, but dos Anjos didn’t budge. Well, from a one-sided opinion McGregor has the advantage the problem is the weight class where the fighter is about to move up to 155 which might take effect on the speed and movement.

After showing up 30 minutes late for the presser, McGregor went on to predict that he’ll take dos Anjos out in under 60 seconds? 2016 is also my year. It will become a national holiday I would imagine. I’m going to have a chance to finish the fight in the first round, but I won’t.

While such trash talk was not unexpected from a man who calls himself “Mystic Mac”, his praise for previous opponent Jose Aldo was uncharacteristically uplifting.

“I feel I will guide him onto some strikes and as he has been KO’d before, I will KO him once again”. Well, Dos Anjos opted for a more straightforward approach, telling MMAFighting that “I will be calm and kick his ass for good”.

They did provide a nice contrast to the McGregor show, though, as they spent most of their time on the microphone saying nice things about one another. Probably not, but I definitely was trying to go out there and finish him. “Every year is my f***ing year”. Are you going to wait for your shot at McGregor at UFC 200?

“Listen, McGregor, if you want to come to the lightweight division, this is my division”, said Rafael Dos Anjos as per ESPN’s Brett Okamoto.

“I apologize for my timekeeping – I do not wear watches to tell the time”, McGregor (19-2 MMA, 7-0 UFC) told MMAjunkie. “He’s the bum version of Aldo”.

It was enough to convince most fight fans the Brazilian will be sticking around with the belt for a while, but apparently not McGregor. I’m going to punish him all the way to the third or fourth.

“McGregor also called dos Anjos out for what he referred to as “leaving the Brazilian people”.

Following his victory against Jose Aldo at UFC 194, McGregor celebrated the only way he knows how – by dropping $500,000 on a Rolls-Royce that came fully equipped with Mariah Carey’s greatest hits.