Conor McGregor has been accused of dodging tough fights by former UFC lightweight champions Charles Oliveira and Rafael dos Anjos.
“Notorious” hasn’t fought since injuring his leg at UFC 264 in July 2021, but is expected to make his highly anticipated return to the octagon at some point this year.
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McGregor is in great shape ahead of his UFC return
The 34-year-old, who has been called up by several UFC colleagues over the past year, is currently linked with a fight with aging legend Tony Ferguson.
Ahead of UFC 283 in Rio de Janeiro last month, Oliveira and dos Anjos attended a Q&A with former McGregor rival Jose Aldo and current middleweight champion Alex Pereira.
The conversation quickly turned to McGregor, as is so often the case in the MMA world.
Oliveira said: “There are no fools here, everyone knows we want this fight because it will give us a lot of money, but I think he is a guy to be excited about. “
“I’ve asked for this fight many times and he never says anything. I’ll be ready to fight him when he wants, but I won’t call him anymore.
The 33-year-old called out McGregor during his title reign and is still keen on this matchup, even though he is no longer the lightweight champion and is coming off a loss to Islam Makhachev.
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Charles Oliveira called ‘Notorious’ after winning UFC 155lb belt
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Dos Anjos was already booked to face McGregor but the fight fell through
Dos Anjos is also a former champion at 155lbs and was previously booked to face McGregor before an injury forced him out of the fight and the Irishman fought Nate Diaz instead.
He added, “Conor picks his fights. Like Charles said, everyone wants this fight because it will be lucrative. He chooses his fights. When he feels this is the fight for him, he will choose it. We will wait but we will continue to fight in the meantime.
Oliveira added: “McGregor chickened out a long time ago. As Rafael said, he picks his fights. I think he looks at the guy and thinks “I can beat this one” and then he signs the contract. He’s right not to fight me because he knows what’s going to happen.
“Do Bronx” hasn’t fought since ending his 11-fight winning streak in October and is currently not booked to compete on any of the upcoming UFC cards.
Dos Anjos won a second-round submission against longtime welterweight contender Bryan Barberena in December to rebound from a stoppage loss to lightweight star Rafael Fiziev.
