Rafael dos Anjos has broken his silence on being a backup option for UFC 214.
The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) wanted to book Tyron Woodley to defend his welterweight title against Demian Maia back in July. The plan worked out, but if it didn’t then dos Anjos was ready to challenge “The Chosen One.”
During a recent appearance on MMAFighting.com‘s “The MMA Hour,” dos Anjos talked about being approached to be a backup title challenger.
“I remember Sean called me and he asked me ‘we’re not sure if Demian will take the fight, we’re going to know in a couple of days, and would you take the fight like a backup plan?’ I said of course. I just had a fight in Singapore, I had all interest in fighting for the title. Of course I accepted it.”
Even after Maia took the fight, dos Anjos kept hitting the gym in case the challenger had to pull out.
“A couple of days later Maia took the fight, but I kept training. I kept my camp because we never know. I got hurt before and I don’t know what could happen, and I kept training, but the fight happened. I got offered that fight and I took it.”
