Even though he came up short in their only fight, top-ranked UFC lightweight Rafael dos Anjos evidently earned the respect of second-ranked Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC on Fox 11 in April 2014.
As for Anthony Pettis, Nurmagomedov doesn’t seem to hold the same reverence for the UFC lightweight linchpin.
During a March interview with MMAFighting.com‘s Marc Raimondi, Nurmagomedov offered his prediction on the lightweight title bout between Pettis and dos Anjos that will unfold at UFC 185 on Saturday.
“I think [dos Anjos] smashes [Pettis] in striking and I think he smashes him on the ground,” Nurmagomedov said. “This is my opinion. I don’t know why, but I think he’ll smash him.”
Nurmagomedov handed dos Anjos his last setback when he racked up six takedowns en route to a unanimous-decision win at UFC on Fox 11. Since the loss, the Brazilian has reeled off three straight wins, two of which ended by form of KO-TKO.
Nurmagomedov suffered a torn right meniscus following his win over dos Anjos and hasn’t competed since.
Aside from his loss to Nurmagomedov, dos Anjos has looked virtually unstoppable in his last nine fights, winning eight times in that span, including five times by unanimous decision. The 30-year-old longtime Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt confidently echoed the sentiments of Nurmagomedov at a media scrum prior to UFC 184 on Feb. 28.
“For sure man,” dos Anjos said when asked if he believes he has an edge in grappling over Pettis. “I think I can beat him anywhere. I think I’m a dangerous fighter that hits hard, and I’m going to prove to everyone why I’m getting this chance. I think I can beat him on the ground or knock him out. I have a lot of confidence in what I got, so on that day on March 14, it’s going to come down to who makes a mistake, and I won’t be that guy.”
Nurmagomedov, who’s slated to face third-ranked Donald Cerrone on a stacked UFC 187 card in May, made sure to clarify that his win over dos Anjos didn’t come easy.
“Dos Anjos is no easy man,” Nurmagomedov said. “A lot of people watch and think I beat him easy, but it was not easy. It was no easy fight. I beat him, but nobody beat him like me.”
After losing his UFC debut in 2011 to Clay Guida, the 28-year-old Pettis has won five straight fights, including two by KO and two by submission. Odds Shark has deemed the former WEC lightweight champ a 3.5-1 favorite (-350) to top dos Anjos (+250).
Bleacher Report obtained the quote from Rafael dos Anjos firsthand.
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