Rafael dos Anjos News

Justin Golightly - December 9, 2017

Colby Covington has been making a case for a shot at welterweight champion Tyron Woodley for awhile now, but it’s been more than just talk. He did end up with a win over the last title challenger in grappling guru Demian Maia. This only heated up his rampage promotional tour to make sure Woodley, and every other welterweight for that matter, knew he was the new man to beat at 170-pounds. His relentless tirade looks like it has resulted in a roster-wide blocking on social media. You can block it on twitter but the chaos sensation is sweeping the world!!! It can’t be stopped!!! pic.twitter.com/ks0T2c3AWn

Russell Ess - December 8, 2017

Big news for the UFC middleweight division was dropped late Thursday as the UFC announced that Georges St-Pierre vacated his newly captured middleweight title. With St-Pierre vacating the title, UFC interim middleweight champion Robert Whittaker was deemed the undisputed champion and former champ Luke Rockhold is now challenging Whittaker for the belt at UFC 221 in February. While Dana White may not be so happy about GSP’s decision to leave the middleweight division, former UFC lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos praised “Rush” for his quick decision to drop his new title.

Justin Golightly - October 24, 2017

Rafael dos Anjos has gone from losing his UFC lightweight title, to being a fight away a shot at the welterweight strap in a little over a year. He’ll fight Robbie Lawler in Winnipeg to determine who’s the next number one contender to challenge Tyron Woodley. It has Fight of the Night potential all over it and definitely could go down as a classic scrap, but they’ll be no heated build-up or public insults. The way Rafael dos Anjos thinks, we shouldn’t really need that. They’ll say all they need to each other inside the Octagon. “I have to fight and get the best fight for me. The best guys are ahead of me and this new generation, they try to talk crap and attack others on social media. I’m glad to have this fight with Robbie [Lawler] because there’s no trash talk. It’s a man’s fight and that’s how I like to do it. We show our talk in the Octagon when we get locked in the cage, we talk with our fists.” 

Justin Golightly - October 20, 2017

Say what you will about Tyron Woodley, but you can’t deny the man his due. He took the welterweight title away from Robbie Lawler in just over two minutes. Since then, he’s defended it three times against the very best in the division. He eyed a superfight with Georges St-Pierre, but was overlooked for Michael Bisping. In his own division, former opponent Lawler and Rafael dos Anjos will duke it out to see who gets to challenge him next. As for now, Woodley is nursing his shoulder back to health so he’s content to ‘watch the throne’ to see how everything unfolds. Great reference by the way, Woodley. “I think it’s a great match-up. If they’re on and they fight hard and they fight the way that they we know they can, it could be an amazing fight. But one person steps forward and decides to not be the vicious fighter they’re known to be — they’ve had nights off, so. My thoughts is, I don’t have a lot of thoughts about it. The division is crazy right now.I’m going to watch ti from the throne. I’m going to watch all the guys compete against each other. There are seven very, very meaningful match-ups in the welterweight division. It’s the toughest division in the world, so it’s an exiting moment for me to watch to see who emerges. I know Dana White said that RDA versus Robbie Lawler dictates who I fight next, I don’t have an issue with that. Obviously we’re in the sport of mixed martial arts where crazy things happen, big fights arrive and they may take precedence over that.”

Justin Golightly - October 12, 2017

More announcements are pouring in for those end of the year UFC cards. A huge one just dropped not even an hour ago, pitting former UFC lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos, against former UFC welterweight champion, Robbie Lawler. It’s a fight that almost seems too good to be true. However, no sooner did we report on the fight with Rafael dos Anjos, he took to Twitter to try and up the stakes for their scrap on December 16th. Am’I the only one that thinks that this fight should be for a interim title? Since the champ is out until next year?

Justin Golightly - October 3, 2017

Rafael dos Anjos’ run in the welterweight division much like his former opponent “Cowboy” Donald Cerrone. He’s taken out Tarec Saffiedine and Neil Magny, and he’s not even close to slowing down. Kamaru Usman was campaigning for a fight with dos Anjos after destroying Sergio Moraes at UFC Fight Night 116. However, dos Anjos is looking to take advantage of his name and quick rise in his new division for a shot at Tyron Woodley. “I just beat the No. 6 in the division and I’m currently at No. 5, it doesn’t make any sense to fight the No. 10 [Kamaru Usman]. I understand that everyone is trying to promote themselves to get interesting fights, but I’m worried about fighters who are ahead of me. Even [Tyron Woodley]’s manager said I deserve to fight for the title. So, I don’t know why he’s worried about me.”

Tom Taylor - September 10, 2017

Shortly after his steamrolling of long-time welterweight contender Neil Magny, former UFC lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos began calling for a scrap with reigning welterweight champion Tyron Woodley. “This division’s wide open; all the top-five, top-six guys in this division have lost to the champion or to the last challenger, which was Demian Maia,” dos Anjos told reporters after UFC 215 (h/t MMAJunkie.com). “(Stephen) Thompson lost twice to Woodley already. I’m the new blood in this division. I was getting ready to fight Woodley if Maia didn’t take the fight, but he ended up taking the fight. But I was getting ready for it, so here I am.”

Tom Taylor - September 10, 2017

Earlier this month, UFC matchmaker Sean Shelby made the surprising admission that, if Demian Maia couldn’t be ready in time to battle welterweight champ Tyron Woodley at UFC 214, the title shot would have gone to former UFC lightweight king Rafael Dos Anjos. “What’s interesting about this [dos Anjos vs. Magny] fight is that we obviously had the fight with Tyron Woodley and Demian Maia, and there was some question… Tyron’s team made it public that Tyron was fighting on this card, and Maia wasn’t initially sure he could do it,” Shelby explained. “The guy waiting there for that fight was RDA. He had already accepted the fight with Tyron had Maia not been able to do it.”

Justin Golightly - September 9, 2017

Just on their names alone, the fight between Neil Magny and Rafael dos Anjos could have been a main event if this was a UFC on FOX card and not a pay-per-view event. With an intimidating record, Magny was at number six in the welterweight division as he welcomed dos Anjos into the weight class for his second fight. A win over Magny would be a huge statement for dos Anjos to make after moving up in weight, so that’s exactly what he went out there and did. https://twitter.com/Jonnyboy_6969/status/906729105982464001

Tom Taylor - September 4, 2017

This Saturday night, on the main card of UFC 215, former UFC lightweight champ Rafael dos Anjos will take his second fight in the welterweight division opposite dangerous contender Neil Magny. Apparently, however, dos Anjos very nearly found himself in a fight with UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley instead. In a UFC 215 preview video featuring Jon Anik and UFC matchmakers Sean Shelby and Mick Maynard, Shelby explained that a dos Anjos vs. Woodley welterweight title fight was the contingency plan had Demian Maia not been able to accept a title fight with Woodley at UFC 214.

Tom Taylor - August 13, 2017

UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley is looking like a bigger and bigger problem for any welterweight contender hoping to capture the divisional title. Yet former UFC lightweight champ Rafael dos Anjos, who now competes at welterweight, believes he could be the man to dethrone Woodley – and he expects to have the opportunity to try pretty soon. “As an ex-champ, I think the path [to the welterweight title] is shorter,” dos Anjos recently told MMAjunkie. “Demian (Maia) just had his shot at the belt and couldn’t get it. Tyron Woodley defended it. (Donald) Cerrone’s fight with (ex-champ) Robbie Lawler – I thought Cerrone won, but it was tough. In my opinion, Lawler wasn’t convincing, so I think that fight removed him from a possible title rematch. (Jorge) Masvidal lost to Demian.”

EVOLVE MMA - June 27, 2017

This video was first published on Evolve Vacation. Former UFC lightweight champion Rafael Dos Anjos is known as one of MMA’s most vicious offensive fighters. His ability to batter his opponents with lightning quick punches and kicks has led to a series of highlight reel stoppages over the course of his career. Today, Dos Anjos is known as one of the most feared competitors in the UFC.

EVOLVE MMA - June 15, 2017

This video was first published on Evolve Vacation. Former UFC lightweight champion and member of the prestigious Evolve Fight Team, Rafael Dos Anjos, is one of the most complete fighters in all of mixed martial arts. His unparalleled skill and tenacity inside the cage is only brought about his incredible confidence in his skills. Of his many fight disciplines, Muay Thai is one of his strongest.

EVOLVE MMA - May 8, 2017

This video was first published on Evolve MMA. Former UFC lightweight champion Rafael Dos Anjos is one of the world’s most devastating strikers. The 32-year old’s ability to stop an opponent has led him to a plethora of highlight reel finishes. He is known as one of the most relentless offensive fighters in the UFC.

Russell Ess - April 26, 2017

Former UFC lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos is set to make his UFC welterweight debut on June 17 against #11 UFC ranked welterweight Tarec Saffiedine at UFC Fight Night 111. The fight takes place in at Singapore Indoor Stadium and although dos Anjos hails from Brazil and is currently living in California, Singapore is another home away from home for the former champion.

Tom Taylor - April 24, 2017

In a few short weeks, Rafael Dos Anjos will make his debut in the UFC welterweight division, taking on former Strikeforce champ Tarec Saffiedine at UFC Fight Night 111 in Singapore. The reason for this move is an increasingly gruelling cut to the lightweight division’s 155-pound cap – a cut that sometimes began north of 190 pounds. On Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour, Dos Anjos explained that his cut was so severe that it actually caused him to pass out for several minutes in the buildup to his June title loss to Eddie Alvarez.

Tom Taylor - April 18, 2017

Earlier this year, former UFC welterweight champion Rafael Dos Anjos announced his intention to move up to the welterweight division, citing a tiresome cut to the lightweight division’s 155-pound cap as the reason for the move. After being called out by several dangerous welterweights – such as the rising Colby Covington – Dos Anjos was ultimately pencilled in for a welterweight debut opposite former Strikeforce welterweight champ Tarec Saffiedine. The pair will battle on June 17 in Singapore, not far from Evolve MMA were Dos Anjos has done much of his recent training. In advance of this anticipated showdown, Dos Anjos spoke with MMAFighting.com to discuss the fight itself and his future in the division:

Tom Taylor - April 6, 2017

Earlier this year, former UFC lightweight champ Rafael Dos Anjos announced his intention to move up to the welterweight division. Shortly after the former champ made this announcement, he began fielding callouts from a number of notable welterweights. Of all the welterweights to call Dos Anjos out, however, none did so with quite the same fervor or creativity as rising star Colby Covington. Unfortunately for Covington and his fans, Dos Anjos ultimately opted to sign on for a fight with former Strikeforce champ Tarec Saffiedine, which will go down when the UFC returns to Singapore on June 17.