Rafael dos Anjos isn’t impressed with what he saw out of Conor McGregor at UFC 264.

Dos Anjos (31-13 MMA, 19-11 UFC), a former UFC lightweight champion, was pegged as the replacement fight for McGregor’s (22-6 MMA, 10-4 UFC) trilogy bout with Poirier (28-6 MMA, 20-5 UFC) on Saturday at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. He made weight ahead of the card, but his services were ultimately not required.

Still, though, dos Anjos was part of the narrative both before and after the fight. He got into a verbal altercation with McGregor backstage at weigh-ins, then when “The Notorious” suffered a broken leg that led to his first-round TKO loss, the Brazilian took a shot at him on social media.

Dos Anjos was supposed to fight McGregor at UFC 196 in March 2016, but a broken foot suffered just 11 days out forced him to withdraw. He was replaced by Nate Diaz – who went on to submit McGregor – and the Irishman has since repeatedly criticized dos Anjos for his inability to make it to the octagon that night.

The tension from that situation has remained, and despite dos Anjos’ claim he doesn’t wish McGregor any true ill will, he said he has to make his voice heard.

“I don’t believe in karma,” dos Anjos told MMA Junkie Radio on Monday. “I don’t want anything bad for him, I wish him a speedy recovery, but I had to do that. I had to do that. People are still making fun with my injury. That’s what’s bugging me a lot, because people make fun of somebody’s injury. I didn’t make fun of his injury. I just showed because it’s a combat sport, we punch each other not only in the fight, but in training as well. I broke my foot. I was in a cast for six weeks and this guy made fun of me. All his fans, all his supporters making fun of me for years. Now he tastes his own medicine.

“Even Friday at the weigh-ins, he said, ‘Hey, you ducked me with a sore foot. He said the same thing on Friday too, that Dustin Poirier would leave the cage on a stretcher, and look how things happened. He left on a stretcher with a broken foot. So, he getting his own thing. He’s tasting his own venom and his own medicine and that’s it. I wish him a speedy recovery, but that’s what he got by talking too much.”

Dos Anjos said he was not impressed with what he saw out of McGregor before the injury. The early striking exchanges were competitive, but Poirier’s ground work was taking on the back half of the round. Dos Anjos said he’s even more effective in that position, and it would’ve been a bad night for McGregor had his services been required.

“It would look way worse,” dos Anjos said. “I think my ground game is way more powerful than Poirier’s. It would be way different. Conor, he looked so sloppy, he looked so small. I met him at the weigh-in day and we had a small altercation in the back room and he looks so small. He looks like a little boy. I would smash that guy.”

Dos Anjos’ chance to “smash” McGregor will have to wait, though. He didn’t get his opportunity at UFC 196 or UFC 264, but if McGregor makes a successful recovery, the stars could possibly align in the future.

There are no regrets from dos Anjos’ end being the UFC 264 replacement. After undergoing surgery earlier this year, he said it gave him something to focus on and work toward. He offered to do it, in fact, and although he wouldn’t have been in perfect shape if he did get the call, he’s glad to have done it.

“Of course I didn’t have the timing for training that I actually need, but it was good for me because it set the goal that I have to be in shape and I had maybe two or three sparring sessions,” dos Anjos said. “Definitely I would not be at 100 percent, but that would be a big challenge for me to be a replacement for that fight. It’s a huge fight. Poirier vs. Conor. I took the chance, I took the opportunity and they accepted my offer as well. It would be a good payday for me and I said, ‘Let’s do it.’ I would not be 100 percent, it would not be the ideal camp for me because four months ago I was in the surgery room.”