Strong words for the Notorious from the manager of Frankie Edgar and Rafael dos Anjos.
Dos Anjos’s convincing victory last night saw him retain his UFC lightweight title and with Conor McGregor known to want to move up from featherweight to challenge to become a two-weight champion, a fight with the Brazilian becomes a real possibility.
But Dos Anjos’s manager, Ali Abdel-Aziz, believes McGregor would be committing ‘suicide’ if he moves up to mix it at 155lbs.
“He beat Jose Aldo, with I think a lucky punch. He rushed in, got inside his head and caught him. If he is crazy enough to go to 155lbs, it’s a suicide,’ Abdel-Aziz told MMAFighting’s Ariel Helwani.
Abdel-Aziz is also the manager of featherweight Frankie Edgar, who has been campaigning to fight McGregor for his title following his victory over Chad Mendes last weekend, but he insists that no matter what direction the UFC push the Dubliner in, McGregor has manouevred himself into holding all the cards.
‘Honestly, I’m kind of tired of it. Conor McGregor is his own brand – he makes the decisions. All respect to UFC – I love Dana [White] and those guys but it feels like they created this monster. Now he’s choosing where to go, who to fight.
‘He had the chance to Frankie when Aldo got hurt but he chose Chad Mendes because he knew Mendes was injured. Now he has the chance to fight Frankie again and he’s running from Frankie.
‘Conor McGregor should be eager to fight a legend like Frankie, but when you fight Frankie, Frankie ruins you. You’re never going to look the same. When Conor McGregor finally chooses to fight Frankie Edgar, he will not look the same. Everybody’s not going to remember who he is.’
Regardless of what fight is next up for McGregor, Abdel-Aziz is confident either of his fighters will end the Irishman’s winning run.
‘But for his reputation it might be easier to go up and get knocked out and people will forget about it. But when you fight Frankie Edgar it’s different. He’s going to ruin you. [McGregor] just needs to man up and take this fight.
‘But if he wants to go 155 and commit suicide, he’s got some heavy hitters out there, but if he wants to solidify his legacy, he needs to fight Frankie Edgar and stop running from Frankie.
‘But if he goes up and fights Rafael, Rafael will ruin him too.’
The full interview is below:
