Rafael dos Anjos posts picture of broken foot that took him out of UFC 196

With next week’s UFC 196 superfight between lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos and featherweight champ Conor McGregor off, dos Anjos took to social media to illustrate why.

Dos Anjos (25-7 MMA, 14-5 UFC) suffered a broken foot this past Friday, and it will keep him out of his fight with McGregor (19-2 MMA, 7-0 UFC). UFC officials have not made an announcement, but dos aAnjos posted a picture of his swollen left foot on his Twitter account tonight.

McGregor is likely to remain on the card against a short-notice opponent, and that opponent is expected to be announced shortly.

McGregor was going after history against dos Anjos. With a win, he would be 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.

In December, in the UFC 194 main event in Las Vegas, McGregor beat longtime featherweight champ Jose Aldo with a stunning 13-second one-punch knockout to win the 145-pound belt and unify it with the interim title he won against Chad Mendes at UFC 189.

But rather than defending his new 145-pound belt right away, McGregor wanted to move up to lightweight to challenge for the title there. The UFC booked the fight with dos Anjos, who won the title with a domination of Anthony Pettis at UFC 185, and in December shut down Donald Cerrone with a TKO in a little more than a minute at UFC on FOX 17.

Stay tuned to MMAjunkie for more on this story as it develops.

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