TORRANCE, Calif. -- Conor McGregor is uncertain if his peers do indeed want to partake in the Red Panty Night festivities.
On Wednesday, "The Notorious" went off on his fellow fighters -- particularly Rafael dos Anjos -- for saying they want to face him, but then not following through.
McGregor was supposed to challenge dos Anjos, the UFC lightweight champion, in the main event of UFC 196 on March 5 in Las Vegas, but dos Anjos pulled out Tuesday due to a broken foot. McGregor will now face Nate Diaz, one of the few who was ready to step up, the UFC featherweight champ said.
"They all have sore vaginas lately, it's crazy," McGregor said. "There's something going on, I don't know. Dos Anjos broke his foot and his vagina in the same damn day. Same with [Frankie] Edgar. I couldn't believe the odds of that to happen."
The UFC called Edgar, a top featherweight contender, to see if he'd be able to fight McGregor on 11 days notice. He said he could not, because of a torn groin. McGregor slammed Edgar at a press conference Wednesday, but was understanding when it came to Jose Aldo, who said he was not in shape to take the fight. McGregor knocked out Aldo in 13 seconds at UFC 194 in December and he thinks Aldo needs a "year or a year and a half" to recover from the head trauma.
McGregor (19-2) saved his harshest barbs for dos Anjos, who posted a photo of his broken foot Tuesday on Instagram.
"I looked at the picture that dos Anjos put up and it's a bruise," McGregor said. "I heard ice works wonders. What do you want me to say?
"Did you see it? It's a bruise. Ice. Ibuprofen. If I jumped under an X-ray [with that], the doctor would slap me and say, 'What are you doing kid? Get out of here, stop this.'"
McGregor, 27, wanted to fight dos Anjos, because it was one of his goals to hold two UFC titles at the same time. No one has ever done that before and McGregor would have if he won. However, he's not sure if he'd be interested in trying to make with dos Anjos happen again. McGregor will fight Diaz at welterweight, a weight class he has shown desire to compete in moving forward.
"It's hard to commit to dos Anjos again," McGregor said. "The same with Jose [Aldo], he pulled. It took him two gos to build up the courage. Hopefully maybe it could take dos Anjos two gos to build up the courage. But when you pull out with an injury like that, a bruise on the foot, there's not much I can do to help you, to bring you back into the mix."
Aldo withdrew from his fight with McGregor at UFC 189 last July. On that night, McGregor knocked out Chad Mendes on short notice in the second round to win the interim featherweight. McGregor then unified the belts against Aldo in December.
There won't be an interim title this time, but a new opponent nonetheless. Diaz is someone that interested McGregor from the beginning. "The Notorious" expects him to be there at MGM Grand next week, unlike some of the rest.
"They always pull," McGregor said. "They always run. They always make out like they want it, but really they don't want it. I was expecting it."
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