With submission wins over Benson Henderson and Gilbert Melendez in his past two outings, Anthony Pettis will look to continue his lightweight championship reign with a win over Rafael dos Anjos this weekend.
Although he was behind Khabib Nurmagomedov in the line for a title shot, Dos Anjos was awarded a bout with Pettis at UFC 185 because Nurmagomedov was still recovering from injuries. While he wasn’t the top choice to challenge Pettis, the Brazilian is deserving, having knocked out Henderson during his current three-bout winning streak.
Carla Esparza will also defend her UFC belt on Saturday, when she takes on Joanna Jedrzejczyk. The Cookie Monster became the first UFC strawweight champion with a submission victory over Rose Namajunas in December.
While Esparza was battling her way through The Ultimate Fighter 20 tournament to capture her UFC belt, Jedrzejczyk was working on earning a title shot the more conventional way. With an upset win over Claudia Gadelha in her second UFC appearance, Jedrzejczyk quickly rose to the top in a developing 115-pound class.
As another UFC event approaches, Bleacher Report writers Riley Kontek, Scott Harris, Craig Amos, James MacDonald and Sean Smith are here to provide their predictions for the aforementioned title bouts and the rest of the UFC 185 main card.