Rafael dos Anjos is not impressed with Michael Chandler after the former Bellator champ turned down a short-notice fight at UFC Vegas 13.
Dos Anjos, the former UFC lightweight champion, was originally expected to take on Islam Makhachev in the main event of UFC Vegas 13, which goes down this Saturday on ESPN+. When Makhachev withdrew from the fight, however, he called on Chandler, who has yet to make his UFC debut, to step in.
I wish @MAKHACHEVMMA a speed recovery. Looking for a new partner to dance. Looks like @MikeChandlerMMA is ready to go. Your move!
— Rafael dos Anjos (@RdosAnjosMMA) November 9, 2020
“I wish @MAKHACHEVMMA a speed recovery,” Dos Anjos wrote on Twitter. “Looking for a new partner to dance. Looks like @MikeChandlerMMA is ready to go. Your move!”
Unfortunately for dos Anjos, Chandler was not interested in this short-notice opportunity. The former Bellator champion responded to this possibility in the comments for a recent Instagram post, insisting he has “other plans” for his UFC debut.
“Not scared,” he wrote in respond to one fan who accused him of ducking the matchup with dos Anjos (h/t MMA Junkie). “We have other plans.
“I was sleeping,” he added in another comment, explaining why he hadn’t yet responded to the calls for a fight with dos Anjos. “Now I’m addressing: we have other plans.”
With a Chandler fight off the table, dos Anjos was then matched up with top-10 lightweight contender Paul Felder, who steps in on just 5 days’ notice. While he’s understandably glad to have a fight, he’s feeling some lingering disappointment about Chandler’s snub.
If you don’t take a fight because you don’t have enough time to drop weight I get it but don’t tell me you have other plans.
I became the champion of the BIGGEST organization fighting everyone they put in front of me. Shame on you.
— Rafael dos Anjos (@RdosAnjosMMA) November 9, 2020
““If you don’t take a fight because you don’t have enough time to drop weight I get it, but don’t tell me you have other plans,” dos Anjos wrote in a Tweet that clearly targeted Chandler. “I became the champion of the BIGGEST organization fighting everyone they put in front of me. Shame on you.”
What do you think of this back and forth between Rafael dos Anjos and Michael Chandler?