Rafael dos Anjos found himself looking for an opponent at UFC 272 after Rafael Fiziev was forced to pull out. Islam Makhachev was chirping on Twitter and it seemed like he would take the fight. In the end, Renato Moicano ended up being the man that took the fight.

UFC 272 ended up being a stressful event for Rafael dos Anjos as he was getting ready for a fight without an opponent. He thought he was getting Islam Makhachev but ended up fighting Renato Moicano.

“My last two weeks were so stressful,” dos Anjos said this week on The MMA Hour. “First, my fight got postponed. Then, I had two potential opponents but in two divisions. So I didn’t know if I should cut weight or eat something. It was very — the fight got postponed, then opponent got COVID and we got a new opponent, but two different divisions — it was kind of crazy. I’m glad I got it done and it’s in the past. I got the victory and I’m gonna enjoy it a little bit.”

The situation with Islam Makhachev was very complicated and the UFC tried to get a deal done. Rafael dos Anjos was willing to work to make it happen but the fight fell through.

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“You guys heard what Dana [White] said, Islam didn’t take the fight,” dos Anjos said. “I said 165 [pounds] — like Bobby Green jumped into the fight with him at 160, he couldn’t fight at 165? Then he said 170 and they called me and said, ‘Islam wants to go 170.’ I said OK, no problem. … But the next morning, ‘Oh, no, no, we’re not taking the fight.’

“I called his bluff. I think that’s what it was. They probably thought, ‘RDA will never take this fight at 170,’ but you know what, I was training, I didn’t want to waste a whole fight camp, I hadn’t fought for 16 months, I just wanted to go fight someone.”

UFC President Dana White announced afterward that Islam Makhachev would not be getting the next title shot and he would have to fight Beneil Dariush. Rafael dos Anjos couldn't help but laugh at the Russian.

“It feels great, man. It feels really good,” dos Anjos said, laughing. “I even texted Beneil [Dariush], ‘Now I got your fight back!’ That’s the price he pays for playing politics. Play these little games, and now he had his title shot secured and now he’s got to fight another one.”