CONOR McGREGOR’S INVOLVEMENT at UFC 196 in Las Vegas on 5 March has been thrown into doubt after it emerged that Rafael dos Anjos has been forced to withdraw from their scheduled bout.

Dos Anjos was due to put his UFC lightweight title on the line against McGregor in the main event at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on Saturday week.

Rumours of a foot injury for the Brazilian first emerged today via Combate reporter Ana Hissa, who also broke the news of the injury to Jose Aldo which eventually ruled him out of his clash with McGregor at UFC 189 last July.

A source close to the situation then confirmed to The42 that dos Anjos has now pulled out of the fight as a result of the injury.

As of this afternoon, no decision has yet been made regarding a replacement opponent for McGregor or whether the Irish star will be removed from next week’s bill, which also features a women’s bantamweight title bout between champion Holly Holm and challenger Miesha Tate.

McGregor, who flew out to the US yesterday, was preparing for a bid to make history in 11 days’ time in Las Vegas. Having defeated Jose Aldo to win the featherweight title in December, a win over dos Anjos would have seen the 27-year-old Dubliner become the first fighter in history to hold two UFC belts at the same time.

Speculation has already begun as to who might face McGregor instead on next week’s card — should the UFC decide to re-match him — with Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone and Nate Diaz among the most likely candidates.

UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor. Source: John Locher

When McGregor confirmed the 5 March date with the UFC in January, he was offered both dos Anjos and Diaz as opponents. Understandably he opted for the champion, but Diaz would also be an attractive proposition having picked up a big win against the odds over Michael Johnson in December.

Diaz lost to Benson Henderson in a lightweight title bout back in December 2012. The 30-year-old Californian’s last defeat came against dos Anjos 14 months ago.

Cerrone has often expressed his desire to face McGregor but his hopes of being handed that opportunity were dealt a crushing blow when he was convincingly beaten by dos Anjos in just 66 seconds in a lightweight title bout in December.

But the 32-year-old Colorado native, who has a reputation for taking fights on short notice, returned with a first-round submission of Alex Oliveira in the main event at UFC Pittsburgh on Sunday night — albeit in a welterweight bout.

According to UFC lightweight Paul Felder, a training partner of Cerrone’s, ‘Cowboy’ is available and willing to make the cut back down from 170lbs to 155lbs to face McGregor next week.

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