Jon Jones Thinks Rafael Dos Anjos Will Defeat Conor McGregor

On March 5, in the main event of UFC 196, UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor will jump up a weight class to challenge Rafael Dos Anjos for the UFC lightweight title. The bout will mark McGregor's attempt to become the first fighter ever to hold two UFC belts simultaneously. Given this, the fight stands out as one of the most significant in UFC history.

As this historic showdown draws ever closer—it's now just 31 days away—many of the sport's top fighters are offering up their predictions as to how they think it will unfold. The most recent fighter to do so is former light heavyweight champion Jon Jones, who was pressed for his pick in an interview with Brazilian actress Rainah Andrews.

"I'm becoming a huge fan of RDA [Dos Anjos]. Based on RDA's performances, I think I'm going to go with him. I'm not rooting for either person, but If I had to put my money on someone, I'd put it on RDA," Jones said.

The former champ then explained that his pick is based on Dos Anjos' recent, 66-second destruction of Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone.

"Cowboy Cerrone is my teammate and I watched him prepare, and I knew he was super prepared to become a world champion. The way that fight went just showed me what level RDA is on. So if I had to put money on it I think I'll go RDA."

So there you have it. One of the very best fighters on earth is predicting that Dos Anjos will defeat McGregor and send him back down to featherweight with just one belt around his waist. And though Jones' pick is actually contrary to the betting, which now peg McGregor as a small favorite at around -135, he is far from alone in this outlook. Many other top fighters are predicting—perhaps "hoping" is a better word—that Dos Anjos will come out on top.

Urijah Faber, for example, who recently coached a season of The Ultimate Fighter opposite McGregor, offered up a similar prediction in a recent interview with The Underground's Jonathan Shrager:

"I think he [Dos Anjos] will probably learn from Aldo's mistake, and he'll learn from Chad Mendes' success. I think he'll try real hard to grapple and make it an ugly fight with Conor and if that's the case it's going to be a bad day for Conor—unless he makes some big improvements."

Frankie Edgar, who stands out as the clear-cut number-one-contender at featherweight, provided a very similar prediction.

"It's not an easy matchup for McGregor," Edgar said in an interview with the Los Angeles Times. "Dos Anjos brings a lot of pressure. He's a bigger guy, has world-class jiu jitsu. His wrestling is phenomenal as of late and he has power in his hands and kicks.

"I definitely lean toward him, but I thought Aldo would've done a lot better too, so you never know…"

Yes, some of the most accomplished fighters in modern mixed martial arts have offered up their picks—and so far, the majority seem to be betting against McGregor.

If all of this sounds familiar, that's because it's happened before. Just like he will against Dos Anjos, McGregor entered his December title fight against Jose Aldo with throngs of vocal doubters.

Donald Cerrone, for example, assured ESPN.com that Aldo would beat McGregor. "Aldo is going to whip his ass. That's my prediction: Aldo by ass-whipping." MMA legend Dan Henderson told ESPN the same, stating that, while it was an interesting fight, he would "have to go with Jose Aldo on that one."

In a list of fighter predictions assembled by MMAFighting.com McGregor's detractors were no less numerous.

"If I had to put money on it, I'd go Aldo. I think a lot of guys are overlooking him," said Max Holloway, whose sentiments were echoed by notables like Jeremy Stephens, Demian Maia, Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza and Tony Ferguson.

All it takes is a quick look back to see that in the buildup to his fight with Aldo, McGregor had no shortage of doubters—and, of course, we all know how that one went.

That being said, Jones and the rest of McGregor's skeptics could well turn out to be correct this time around. The Irish superstar might well come up short against Dos Anjos, who is looking more and more like an untouchable champion. As history clearly shows us, however, counting McGregor out against any opposition—no matter how ferocious—is a brave choice. And every time McGregor proves his doubters wrong, those doubters are likely to become more and more scarce in each of his subsequent fights. Really, it's hard to imagine who would possibly pick against him if he does manage to unseat Dos Anjos.