'SI Cover Jinx'? UFC 196 headliner Conor McGregor lands cover of Sports Illustrated

Is it the infamous “Sports Illustrated Cover Jinx,” but in reverse?

UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor is on the latest cover of Sports Illustrated magazine. The cover lines for the issue say McGregor “puts the fight in fighting Irish … and the fear in the rest of the UFC.”

But while his cover spot is timed for what was to be a headlining appearance at UFC 196 going after a second concurrent title, the news came down today that his opponent, lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos, is out of their fight with a broken foot.

McGregor is just the third UFC fighter to appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated. In 2007, Roger Huerta was the first on the cover. In 2015, Ronda Rousey graced the cover (and she also is one of three cover models for this year’s SI Swimsuit Issue).

The so-called “SI Cover Jinx” maintains that teams or athletes who appear on the cover are jinxed in their next outing. And while the jinx in this case would appear to be on dos Anjos, it’s McGregor who may suffer along with him.

UFC officials have not yet announced whether McGregor will remain on the card or if he’ll be moved to a different date against dos Anjos once he’s healthy. But given how many McGregor fans have made the trip from Ireland for his past fights in the States, the UFC may well be looking into keeping “The Notorious” on the card against a short-notice opponent, either for an interim lightweight title or as a one-off fight against another big-name opponent.

Dos Anjos (25-7 MMA, 14-5 UFC) and McGregor (19-2 MMA, 7-0 UFC) were pegged to be one of the biggest pay-per-views in recent memory, largely because of the interest in McGregor, who was attempting to become the first fighter in UFC history to hold titles in two divisions at the same time.

UFC 196 takes place March 5 at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. The main card will air on pay-per-view following prelims on FOX Sports 1 and UFC Fight Pass. The co-main event is scheduled to be a women’s bantamweight title bout between champion Holly Holm and former title challenger Miesha Tate, with the winner expected to face former champ Ronda Rousey later this year.

McGregor is No. 1 in the USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA featherweight rankings, and dos Anjos is No. 1 at lightweight. McGregor is also No. 4 pound-for-pound, while dos Anjos sits at No. 6.

This past July, in the days leading up to a featherweight title fight against Jose Aldo at UFC 189, Aldo pulled out of the fight with an injury. The UFC was able to tab two-time title challenger Chad Mendes to face McGregor for an interim belt, and McGregor won with a second-round TKO.

In December, in the UFC 194 main event in Las Vegas, McGregor finally got to face Aldo to unify the titles – and won with a stunning 13-second one-punch knockout.

McGregor has implied that his plan is to win the lightweight title, then move up yet another weight class to welterweight to challenge champ Robbie Lawler for his belt at UFC 200 in July in Las Vegas. First up, though, was the planned fight with dos Anjos, which the UFC understandably had put a massive amount of promotional muscle behind.

And for more on UFC 196, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.