UFC 196 was expected to be an incredible card headlined by Conor McGregor taking on Rafael Dos Anjos in the main event for the Lightweight Championship belt. That was until Dos Anjos suffered a broken foot during training which will force him to pull out of the fight, according to Ariel Helwani of MMAFighting.com.
The event is scheduled to take place on March 5 in Las Vegas at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, which means the UFC has less than two weeks to find a replacement for Dos Anjos. This is the fourth time in McGregor's eight fights that his original opponent was forced to pull out. The most recent time was at UFC 189 when then-featherweight champion Jose Aldo had to pull out just 11 days before the event. The UFC recovered quickly in that one and replaced Aldo with Chad Mendes, and they hope to recover quickly this time too.
One of the first names to come up when talking about a replacement was Frankie Edgar, who badly wants to fight McGregor, but he is unavailable due to an injury, according to Helwani. The next option being considered is Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone, who lives by the mantra "anyone, anytime, anyplace."
Cerrone just fought on Sunday night against Alex Oliveira, a fight which he won via submission. Prior to the fight against Oliveira, Cerrone had lost to Dos Anjos in a title match, and he may now be the guy replacing him. There are plenty of obstacles to pass here, but Cerrone and his people are interested in the fight, according to Brett Okamoto of ESPN.
Cerrone is currently at 174 pounds, but the lightweight limit is 155 pounds so he would have to cut a lot of weight in a short amount of time. One option is for him to "get down as much as he could" to replace Dos Anjos as the main event on the card. Another option for the fight would be Anthony Pettis whose manager reportedly has requested the fight as well. There should be no shortage of suitors for this fight, it is just a matter of who the UFC thinks will be the best draw because Dos Anjos vs. McGregor was highly anticipated.
The news of Dos Anjos backing out, which was reportedly a very tough decision for him, is a bummer, especially for McGregor. McGregor is the current featherweight champion, and this fight was set to be for the lightweight championship. If McGregor would have won he would have become the first fighter in UFC history to hold multiple belts.
The UFC will find a replacement for Dos Anjos to fight McGregor, and it will still likely be a very good fight, but it won't have the same ramifications now. Holly Holm vs. Miesha Tate for the bantamweight title is the co-main event for March 5, though, so there is still plenty of reasons to tune in.
