“Two of the best Brazilian lightweights in the UFC have verbally agreed to fight as Rafael Dos Anjos takes on Gleison Tibau at UFC 139,” confirmed UFC president Dana White. The two black belts will war in San Jose this November.
That announcement was made on Tuesday afternoon at UFC.com featuring Brazilian’s Gleison Tibau (23-7) and Rafael dos Anjos (15-5).
Both will meet at UFC 139: Velasquez vs. Dos Santos, which is scheduled to take place on November 19 at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California. The event represents the promotions first visit to that venue, the home of former rivals Strikeforce. Headlining the show will be a heavyweight title match between champ Cain Velasquez and No. 1 contender Junior dos Santos.
Tibau has won two straight and is 4-1 in his last five fights. His last bout was in May, a second round submission win over Rafaello Oliveira at UFC 130. For that win, Tibau earned the “Submission of the Night” honor. Overall with the UFC, Tibau is 9-5 with significant wins over Jeremy Stephens, Kurt Pellegrino and Caol Uno.
Dos Anjos was in action last month at UFC 132, earning a surprising knockout win over Australian George Sotiropoulos at UFC 132. The win put the Brazilian at 1-1, after submitting to Clay Guida at UFC 117 due to an injured jaw. So far dos Anjos is 4-3 in the UFC since his debut back in 2008.