With all due respect to Rafael dos Anjos, he won’t beat UFC lightweight champion Anthony “Showtime” Pettis on Saturday night at UFC 185 in Dallas, Texas. Dos Anjos is rugged. He’s never been submitted via hold (the submission loss to Clay Guida in 2010 was because of a jaw injury). The only time he was stopped by KO or TKO was back in 2008 at the hands of Jeremy Stephens.
Dos Anjos is also a skilled grinder. He has won a wealth of fights by decision. Most recently, he’s shown some extra punching power, having stopped both Benson Henderson and Jason High by TKO.
Even with all of those qualities and accomplishments, Pettis is a little better in every facet of the game. Mike Sloan of Sherdog.com polled 26 current and former fighters about the UFC 185 main event. A whopping 25 picked Pettis to come out on top.
Former UFC fighter and current coach Matt Serra said:
I think dos Anjos is a threat, but I give it to Pettis. He’s improving. With each fight, you see different weapons. Look at the guys he’s submitted. He’s submitting guys who don’t get submitted, with Gil[bert Melendez] and with what he did with Benson [Henderson]. He’s just looking like a monster, and I think he’s going to be difficult to beat; and I don’t think dos Anjos has his number.
Pettis‘ body of work doesn’t lie. The champion is a more dynamic and explosive striker, with a 56 percent KO rate compared to just 17 for the challenger. He’s a more efficient submission artist. Pettis has won eight bouts by submission in 20 pro fights. It’s taken dos Anjos 30 bouts to reach the same number.
Pettis has also proven to be tougher to hit and he’s never been stopped.
According to FightMetric, Pettis absorbs 1.6 strikes per minute compared to 2.39 for dos Anjos. This well-roundedness is a testament to Pettis‘ hard work and mental approach. His coach, Duke Roufus, talked to Matt Parrino of UFC.com about the champion. Roufus said:
He is very cerebral in his approach to everything he does. It’s so easy to do these fight camps with him because he comes to the gym smiling every day. Some people are grumpy, they hate training, but he likes training just as much as he likes getting his hand raised. When you got that, that’s the making of a legend right there.
Since Pettis‘ last loss to Guida back in 2011, he’s grown by leaps and bounds. He’s a perfect 5-0, and he’s won all but one of the fights by stoppage. Three of the stoppages have come in the first round. There’s no questioning dos Anjos‘ worthiness to be in position to challenge for the title, but on Saturday, he’ll fall victim to a young, smart and hungry champion.
Pettis will submit yet another creditable challenger to move up the pound-for-pound rankings.
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