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Callout Collection: Who UFC Fight Night 182 winners want next – and how likely they'll get them

Earning wins in the UFC is certainly no easy task, but what comes next is often even more important: the post-fight callout.

So after Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 182 event in Las Vegas, who took advantage of their time on the mic?

See below for this week’s Callout Collection – and just how realistic each one is.

 

Rafael dos Anjos

Wants to fight: Conor McGregor

The callout: “I think (Khabib Nurmagomedov is) leaving the division wide open. If you look at the rankings, we have three former interim champions: Tony (Ferguson), (Justin) Gaethje, and Dustin Poirier. The only two real champs in the division were me and Conor, and we were scheduled to fight twice. With the champion leaving the division, why not? … He’s in. I’m in, too. Let’s make it happen!

The reality: Rafael dos Anjos’ reasoning is sound, but despite his credentials, his record as a former champion and the fact that he has been matched against McGregor before, I just can’t see this fight materializing.

Don’t get me wrong, there would be a certain tidiness to the bout, with a matchup between the pair effectively completing the job after their memorable “El Chapo” press conference before the Brazilian was forced out of the bout due to injury. But, despite RDA’s tenure and abilities, the cold, honest truth is there are bigger box-office options available for McGregor and the UFC.

A matchup between McGregor and Tony Ferguson would capture the imagination of the fans, while a bout with former three-time Bellator champ Michael Chandler would offer a fresh matchup for the division. There’s also the possibility that Khabib might not be fully retired, and may come back for one more title defense, too. Then there’s the wild card of the trilogy fight with Nate Diaz.

It’s likely that all of the above options would rank higher than a McGregor-dos Anjos matchup in the eyes of the UFC, which means that, unless McGregor himself demands the RDA matchup, the former champions are probably unlikely to meet, leaving dos Anjos to rue his untimely broken foot back in February 2016.

UFC Fight Night 182: Best photos

UFC Fight Night 182: Official scorecards

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