With just one title defense to his name, Anthony Pettis has the opportunity to make Rafael dos Anjos victim No. 2 of his championship reign at UFC 185.
Even in his brief stint as champion, Showtime has proven to be worthy of anchoring a pay-per-view card. So far, he’s taken the belt from Benson Henderson with a lightning-quick submission and become the first man to finish former Strikeforce champion Gilbert Melendez.
Now he turns his sights to Rafael dos Anjos. The 30-year-old Brazilian is an unassuming challenger, but a difficult one nonetheless. Here’s a look at how the two combatants stack up.
What They’re Saying
It’s no secret that most of the hype in this fight centers around the champion. Pettis appears to have all the ingredients to become part of the next wave of stars in the UFC. He has the belt, a style that excites and at 28 years old, he’s young enough to keep fighting at the top of his game for years.
Dos Anjos has been impressive in his rise to No. 1 contender status. His knockout of Henderson and subsequent decision win over Nate Diaz demonstrated how dangerous he is as an opponent. It still hasn’t kept him from being a 7-2 underdog at UFC 185 according to Odds Shark, though.
When it comes to pinpointing exactly why Pettis is an overwhelming favorite, it’s difficult to point to exactly one reason. Both fighters are well-rounded, it’s just that Pettis seems to have the slight advantage wherever the bout goes.
Kenny Florian is among those who think Pettis‘ X-factor will be what gives him an edge over his opponent on Saturday night via Fox Sports:
Pettis is one of those guys who shows what he’s made of, how talented he is, every time. He’s fearless, and not in a way that makes him vulnerable. He’s always still strategic, still technical and still smart. He just shows that flash of pizzaz when it’s needed. I think Pettis will be able to hurt Dos Anjos and finish him in the third round.
Not everyone is on board with the champion, though. Khabib Nurmagomedov—a man who has already defeated dos Anjos—believes there will be a new champion.
“I think [dos Anjos] smashes [Pettis] in striking and I think he smashes him on the ground,” Nurmagomedov told Marc Raimondi of MMAFighting.com. “Dos Anjos is no easy man. … A lot of people watch and think I beat him easy, but it was not easy. It was no easy fight.”
Of course, there’s an ulterior motive to Nurmagomedov‘s analysis of this bout. He would like nothing more than to get under the skin of the champion. With a record of 22-0, he appears to be on a collision course with whoever’s holding the belt.
It behooves Nurmagomedov to believe that he can win the strap because he’s already defeated the fighter who has it. However, the odds still say that Nurmagomedov will have to overcome Showtime if he eventually wants to add “UFC champion” to his resume.
Prediction
When analyizing these two fighters, there’s one difference that sticks out—defense.
Put simply, Pettis excels at it, while dos Anjos does not. Reed Kuhn of MMAOddsBreaker.com puts it into a statistical perspective:
There’s a path to victory for the challenger. His grappling is not to be trifled with and he has some power on his feet. If he’s able to consistently force the fight into close quarters and wear Pettis down before dragging him to the mat, he could grind out a decision.
That’s much easier said than done.
What’s much more likely to happen is a stand-up affair. Dos Anjos may try to clinch and score takedowns early, but Pettis‘ has good takedown defense that should force the Brazilian to stand and exchange.
Over the course of five rounds, that’s bound to cause some trouble. Pettis should be able to add yet another highlight finish to his ever-growing reel as he puts title defense No. 2 in the books.
Pettis via third-round TKO
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