Rafael dos Anjos' camp clarifies injury and blasts Conor McGregor
UFC lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos wanted nothing more than to be in Las Vegas this week to defend his title against featherweight king Conor McGregor.
Unfortunately, dos Anjos suffered a broken foot just two weeks ago that forced him to drop out of the bout before he was replaced with Nate Diaz on late notice.
Following dos Anjos' withdrawal from the card, McGregor launched into an attack on the lightweight champion claiming that he was only suffering from a bruise on the foot and he wasn't buying the excuse that anything was actually broken.
Well, dos Anjos posted a photo of his extremely swollen foot just a day after he dropped out of the bout and now there's even further proof of his injury after his manager confirmed via Instagram that the lightweight champion is now wearing a cast on his broken foot.
"When you have a bruise you don't have a cast on," dos Anjos' manager Ali Abdel-Aziz wrote on Instagram. "One thing I can tell you -- Conor was relieved when he found out Rafael dos Anjos was injured and I really mean it, this is not trash talking -- I truly mean it."
Following his post on Instagram, Abdel-Aziz spoke to FOX Sports to give an update on the lightweight champion's condition following a visit to the doctor where the cast was put on his foot.
According to his manager, dos Anjos will be in a hard cast for about three weeks and then a walking boot for another five weeks.
Following those eight weeks to allow the foot to heal, dos Anjos will then be able to return to training full time.
So the approximate timeline for dos Anjos to get back into the gym would be around the end of April or beginning of May depending on how his foot heals and when doctors give him clearance to return to training.
No date has been determined for dos Anjos' return to action but if he's able to get back into training in May, it's still possible he could fight as early as UFC 200 in July.
Whether or not dos Anjos gets matched up with McGregor again is still unknown as well. For now, McGregor just has to get past Diaz on Saturday night before he decides what his next course of action will be and if pursuing the lightweight title is still his No. 1 goal.
