Tag: Rafael Dos Anjos

UFC 185: Results and Reactions from Saturday Night’s Card

New champions were crowned Saturday night in Dallas at UFC 185. Rafael dos Anjos took UFC lightweight champion Anthony “Showtime” Pettis’  to school. Dos Anjos used powerful takedowns and relentless pressure to batter Pettis for five rounds.
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New champions were crowned Saturday night in Dallas at UFC 185. Rafael dos Anjos took UFC lightweight champion Anthony “Showtime” Pettis‘  to school. Dos Anjos used powerful takedowns and relentless pressure to batter Pettis for five rounds.

When it was over, all three judges saw it as a five-round sweep for dos Anjos. The new champion finished with nine takedowns in the fight and out-landed Pettis 90-54 in significant strikes. It doesn’t get more dominating than that.

If you could find someone who picked dos Anjos to win, I can almost bet they didn’t see the Brazilian dominating the way he did. Kevin Iole of Yahoo Sports marveled at dos Anjos‘ accomplishment:

In the co-feature, Joanna Jedrzejczyk‘s muay thai proved to be too much for UFC strawweight champion Carla “Cookie Monster” Esparza. Jedrzejczyk scored a decisive second-round TKO to become the new women’s champion at 115 pounds. She displayed excellent takedown defense in the bout.

Esparza attempted 17 takedowns and only secured one. It seemed as if she had no Plan B once Jedrzejczyk was able to stuff the takedown attempts. Jedrzejczyk showed her striking prowess by out-landing Esparza 53-4 in significant strikes.

Light heavyweight contender Daniel Cormier was impressed with multiple facets of Jedrzejczyk‘s game.

Per UFC Canada, both new champions also earned Performance of the Night bonuses. 

Here’s a look at every result from Saturday night.

 

Other Dominant Performances

Alistair Overeem

He didn’t knock Roy Nelson out, but Alistair Overeem did display the most varied and technically sharp array of strikes we’ve ever seen from him.

Overeem out-landed Nelson 66-48 in significant strikes, and he stopped all four of Nelson’s attempts to take him down. Iole talked about all of the weapons Overeem showed off:

He came in ranked ninth, but Overeem looks capable of taking on a Top Five opponent. Then again, he’s duped us into believing he was elite before. We’ll need to see Overeem sustain this level of fighting for the next two or three bouts.

 

Johny Hendricks

Matt Brown wanted to make his fight with Johny Hendricks a brawl, but Hendricks’ takedown defense eliminated that strategy. With a nice mixture of striking, grappling and ground-and-pound, Hendricks proved he’s in shape physically and in the right mindset to take on UFC welterweight champion Robbie Lawler for a third time.

Hendricks would love to to regain the title he lost to Lawler. However, there’s a long line of 170-pounders with a solid claim to the next title shot. Since Hendricks is a former champion who has history with Lawler, it may not be difficult to land the third fight in their rivalry.

In any case, Hendricks is back on the right track, and his future is looking bright once again.

 

All stats per UFC.com.

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Rafael Dos Anjos Likely to Defend Title from Winner of Cerrone vs. Nurmagomedov

Rafael dos Anjos took the UFC lightweight title from Anthony Pettis with an eerie ease at UFC 185, relentlessly pressuring Showtime and taking a unanimous 50-45 decision win. While immediate rematches have been par for the lightweight championship cour…

Rafael dos Anjos took the UFC lightweight title from Anthony Pettis with an eerie ease at UFC 185, relentlessly pressuring Showtime and taking a unanimous 50-45 decision win. While immediate rematches have been par for the lightweight championship course, however, it seems like a new challenger will get a crack at the belt next.

Speaking at the UFC 185 post-fight press conference, UFC President Dana White speculated that the next challenge for the newly minted champion would be the winner of the UFC 187 bout between Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone and Khabib Nurmagomedov: 

Cerrone and Nurmagomedov already own resumes deserving of UFC lightweight title bouts. Cerrone is riding an impressive seven-fight winning streak dating back to 2013, with four of those victories coming via stoppage. Nurmagomedov, on the other hand, owns a career 22-0 record (with six wins in the UFC) and has been utterly dominant to this point in his career. 

Both men have actually fought dos Anjos before. Cerrone was unable to overcome an early deficit in his 2013 bout with dos Anjos and lost via a unanimous 29-28 decision. Nurmagomedov, on the other hand, defeated dos Anjos in 2014 in dominant fashion, taking the Brazilian down repeatedly en route to a unanimous 30-27 decision win. Nurmagomedov likely would have been the one to face Pettis at UFC 185 had a knee injury not shelved him for nearly a year.

All that said, dos Anjos and his manager, Ali Abdel-Aziz, revealed that he had sustained a partial MCL tear just a few weeks ahead of the event. While dos Anjos speculated that he would not need surgery, all sports fans know how troublesome knee injuries can be. Fans (and fighters) will just need to keep their fingers crossed in regards to the champ’s health.

Keep an eye on Bleacher Report for more news as it breaks.

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Rafael Dos Anjos Tore MCL 4 Weeks Before UFC 185 Title Win over Anthony Pettis

Rafael dos Anjos shocked the MMA universe by dominating now-former lightweight champion Anthony Pettis at UFC 185. Not just beat, mind you. Dominated.
While winning a UFC title without breaking a sweat is impressive all on its own, dos Anjos’ victory t…

Rafael dos Anjos shocked the MMA universe by dominating now-former lightweight champion Anthony Pettis at UFC 185. Not just beat, mind you. Dominated.

While winning a UFC title without breaking a sweat is impressive all on its own, dos Anjos‘ victory turned out to be even more impressive than it initially seemed, as multiple reports surfaced that the Brazilian had suffered an MCL tear just a few weeks prior to Fight Night. From Twitter:

MCL tears are no joke. While not as debilitating or time-consuming as the dreaded ACL tear, more than a few bouts have been called off due to partial or complete tears of the ligament. A recent example would be Cain Velasquez’s withdrawal from UFC 180, where he was slated to defend his heavyweight strap from Fabricio Werdum.

At this point, it is unclear how serious the injury was. While dos Anjos was clearly able to fight at a high level in spite of the MCL tear, recovery can take months. That could spell trouble for a division that struggled with Pettis as champion due to chronic injuries that resulted in him fighting just six times in a four-year span and saw the belt go undefended from August 2013 until December 2014 (approximately 16 months).

That said, MCL troubles do not necessarily require invasive treatments. As Jonathan Gelber detailed for BloodyElbow.com when Dan Henderson pulled out of UFC 151 with an MCL injury, hematomas can form around the ligament, which allows it to heal in a way other parts of the knee cannot. Dos Anjos, during the post-fight press conference, speculated that he will not need surgery for the injury.

Here is hoping dos Anjos can get back into the cage to defend his belt in short order.

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Anthony Pettis vs. Rafael Dos Anjos: What We Learned from UFC 185 Title Fight

A new champ has been crowned.
After putting forth one of the more impressive performances in recent Octagon history, Rafael dos Anjos outclassed and outshined Anthony Pettis at UFC 185.
His dominant efforts on the feet, in the clinch and on the ground …

A new champ has been crowned.

After putting forth one of the more impressive performances in recent Octagon history, Rafael dos Anjos outclassed and outshined Anthony Pettis at UFC 185.

His dominant efforts on the feet, in the clinch and on the ground resulted in one of the more shocking title upsets in the history of the UFC.

He simply proved too much for a champion renowned as one of the best pound-for-pound fighters on the planet.

Here is what we learned from Saturday’s memorable title scrap and dos Anjos capturing the UFC lightweight title via unanimous decision.

 

What We’ll Remember About This Fight

Dos Anjos did what he needed to do in order to take Pettis out of his game and force him to fight dirty.

By sticking to the champ like glue through the fight’s entirety, RDA’s relentless pressure created a whirlwind of trouble for Showtime.

He connected close, attacked from distance, shot for takedowns with high success and powered through anything the champ had to offer

This is a fight that we’ll remember for a long time and one that could possibly tarnish the legacy of Pettis and his once-untouchable aura.

 

What We Learned About Pettis

Whether Pettis took this fight lightly or not, we’ll never know.

As a true champion and a guy who always finishes on top, it would seem as if Pettis didn’t expect a few things that dos Anjos threw his way.

It did look like RDA damaged Pettis‘ eye early in the first round, but that’s no excuse to get taken down nine times and fall behind on strikes 90-54.

Saturday night was proof that nobody is perfect, and Pettis has a long way to go to becoming the best fighter in the world, especially when it comes to finding an early groove.

 

What We Learned About Dos Anjos

Spectacular. Punishing. Captivating.

These are just a few words that come to mind when thinking about the beating that Dos Anjos put on Pettis at UFC 185.

He took one of the best strikers in the world to the woodchipper and left nothing on the bone.

From perfectly timed takedowns to scintillating combinations in close quarters, the new lightweight kingpin made all the right moves.

We need to take notice of this performance and understand even further that the 155-pound division is full of dangerous, battle-tested warriors.

 

What’s Next for Pettis

At 28 years of age, Pettis may not even be in his prime.

This obviously is not the type of performance you want to build a legacy off of, but Showtime remains one of the most skilled competitors in the sport today.

When healthy, he’s capable of beating any opponent the lightweight division has to offer, including new titleholder dos Anjos.

An immediate rematch is unlikely to take place considering Donald Cerrone and Khabib Nurmagomedov will fight for No. 1 contention at UFC 187 in May, leaving Pettis to drop back down the ladder and look for a win elsewhere.

The most sensible choice for the former champ would have to be Michael “The Menace” Johnson.

 

What’s Next for Dos Anjos

Hopefully, Dos Anjos is able to remain healthy in order to showcase the near-perfect skill set that he did at UFC 185.

As the new face of the division, the 30-year-old Brazilian should be willing to fight any challenger brave enough to reach into his cage.

But considering Nurmagomedov defeated RDA early last year, you’d have to believe Dos Anjos has some unsettled business with the undefeated Russian.

The deepest and most intriguing division in all of MMA just got a little crazier.

 

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Rafael Dos Anjos Completes Dramatic Career Comeback with Pettis Win

Anthony Pettis is one of the best lightweights in the history of mixed martial arts.
This was hardly in doubt even before Pettis faced Rafael dos Anjos in the main event of UFC 185. His ability to finish the tough and durable top contenders in his divi…

Anthony Pettis is one of the best lightweights in the history of mixed martial arts.

This was hardly in doubt even before Pettis faced Rafael dos Anjos in the main event of UFC 185. His ability to finish the tough and durable top contenders in his division made him one of the UFC’s brightest shining stars, a potential massive pay-per-view draw.

But injuries have derailed Pettis in recent years, preventing him from obtaining the kind of exposure that could increase his own personal brand. A recent change in his training methods, dialing back both the intensity and length of his training sessions and nearly eliminating weight training on days he sparred with a live opponent, helped keep him healthy and prepared to return to the Octagon just four months after his last fight.

Pettis brought a four-fight finishing streak into the Octagon, which is nearly unprecedented in UFC championship bouts. And he went into the fight as a significant favorite over dos Anjos, who was seen by most as mere fodder in Pettis‘ title reign.

But mixed martial arts is a cruel and often fickle beast. Instead of a glorious finish and another title defense, Pettis was instead beaten and battered by dos Anjos for five rounds.

The official decision was a foregone conclusion when it came: Dos Anjos had won all five rounds, and none of them were close.

In terms of fighting output, Pettis barely made a blip on the radar. Dos Anjos controlled the center of the Octagon with 100 precent efficiency. He brutalized Pettis in the striking department, especially against the wall of the cage. And he took the now-former champion down at will and controlled him with authority on the ground. Pettis simply had no answer for anything dos Anjos offered.

And what dos Anjos offered is incredible. The man who lost to the ageless Gleison Tibau at UFC 139 is nowhere to be found. Under the tutelage of Rafael Cordeiro, dos Anjos‘ striking game has improved dramatically. He throws with power. His defense is superb. His ground game has never lacked. And he showed all of it against Pettis, who was left resorting to the kind of post-fight excuses one expects when a champion loses to someone he did not expect to lose it. Pettis said his eye was hurt in the first round and that he could not see anything from that point forward.

And while that may be true, dos Anjos‘ manager Ali Abdel-Aziz said after the fight that the new champion tore his MCL three weeks ago.

Injury or no injury, dos Anjos appeared to be a world-beater. He demolished Pettis with the kind of one-sided authority rarely seen in UFC title fights. In doing so, he became 2015’s version of T.J. Dillashaw, a massive underdog who captured the bantamweight title by beating Renan Barao last year. Dos Anjos did not get the finish, as Dillashaw did, but he was no less effective.

And now, dos Anjos will face a murderer’s row of title challengers. Pettis will be waiting in the wings; the UFC has invested too much in him for him to be kept away from the title picture for long. Khabib Nurmagomedov will face Donald Cerrone in May to determine the first challenger for dos Anjos. He has faced each of them before. He beat Cerrone and lost to Nurmagomedov.

But given the dramatic and visceral improvements he has shown since both of those fights, well, it’s not a given that he’ll be a one-and-done champion.

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UFC 185 Results: Twitter Reacts to Winners, Losers from Pettis vs Dos Anjos Card

Two championship bouts at UFC 185, two new titleholders. 
In the pay-per-view card’s main event, Rafael dos Anjos demolished Anthony Pettis over five one-sided rounds to win the men’s lightweight championship via unanimous decision. Yahoo Sports’ …

Two championship bouts at UFC 185, two new titleholders. 

In the pay-per-view card’s main event, Rafael dos Anjos demolished Anthony Pettis over five one-sided rounds to win the men’s lightweight championship via unanimous decision. Yahoo Sports’ Kevin Iole relayed the judges’ scorecards:

Prior to that stunning display, Joanna Jedrzejczyk defeated Carla Esparza via second-round TKO at the 4:28 mark to become the new women’s strawweight champion.

With the strong card, entertaining results and college basketball mostly wrapped up for the evening, Twitter was naturally abuzz with commentary and reaction for each of the five pay-per-view bouts.

Championship Bouts

Dos Anjos, whom Pettis said was “probably the most dangerous guy in the division in my opinion,” per Martin Domin of The Daily Mail, certainly lived up to his opponent’s estimation on Saturday night. He was undeterred by Pettis’ punches and dished out much more punishment in return, as Fox Sports UFC pointed out:

The challenger landed 61 percent of his strikes through three rounds. Pettis was fine standing up, but he struggled to avoid dos Anjos’ takedown attempts. This fan noted the overwhelming display from dos Anjos:

It was abundantly clear that Pettis’ needed a stoppage of some kind to win this bout, but there would be no late comeback on this night. Dos Anjos closed the curtains on Showtime, dominating the fourth and fifth rounds to flip the script and take the title.

Sherdog’s Jordan Breen was highly complimentary after the bout:

USA Today‘s Mike Bohn noted dos Anjos’ victory represented a historic changing of the guard:

MMA journalist David Kano noted that the likes of Nate Diaz had fared much better against dos Anjos:

Prior to the main event was the women’s strawweight championship. With Jedrzejczyk a strong technical fighter and the defending champion Esparza an artist on the ground, this was a tantalizing clash of styles. 

Bleacher Report tweeted an emotional picture of the new titleholder after the bout:

Jedrzejczyk, the six-time Muay Thai world champion, acquitted herself well in the first round, blocking Esparza’s takedown attempts and landing eight more total strikes than her opponent. Esparza may have expended too much energy in the first round, which led to her downfall.

USA Today‘s Ben Fowlkes noted she looked tired:

Jedrzejczyk simply walked a tired Esparza down in the second, pummeling away until the referee had no choice but to end the carnage. UFC unofficially counted 42 strikes for Jedrzejczyk to Esparza’s one in the second round. It was a superlative display of fighting, one that should have the 27-year-old Polish fighter in line for some premier bouts in the very near future.

ESPN’s Brett Okamoto was highly impressed by her dominant display:

The performance officially made a Jedrzejczyk fan out of UFC featherweight Cub Swanson:

You might be able to count Jacksonville Jaguars tight end Marcedes Lewis among the new converts as well:


Main Card

In the pay-per-view card’s first bout, Henry Cejudo moved to 8-0 in his MMA career with a unanimous-decision victory (30-27 on all cards) over top flyweight contender Chris Cariaso.

It was Cejudo’s flyweight debut, but he looks like a man capable of terrorizing the division after his dominant display Saturday. MMAFighting.com’s Shaheen Al-Shatti noted his top-notch athleticism:

Cejudo dominated all three rounds, landing 111 total strikes to Cariaso’s 41. Of course, even when Cariaso was able to land his punches, they had little effect, per Sherdog’s Patrick Wyman:

Cejudo, a 28-year-old from Colorado Springs, Colorado, drew considerable praise for his effort, but Ariel Helwani of MMAFighting.com thinks he may have to impress in a couple more bouts before getting a shot at flyweight hardware:

The card quickly shifted from the little guys to the big fellas, as Roy Nelson took on Alistair Overeem in a heavyweight fight. Overeem was able to come away with a decision victory in this one, but it was a much closer than the preceding bout.

Yahoo Sports’ Kevin Iole saw an Overeem in rare form:

Overeem landed 66 blows to Nelson’s 48, although the latter notched the only knockdown of the bout in the final round. Naturally, in a fight between two big men, jokes abounded. Fowlkes chimed in with this quip:

Overeem broke down Nelson with a barrage of kicks and knees, and took the bout 30-27 on all cards, per Iole. However, UFC’s Dana White couldn’t help but express his admiration for Nelson after the bout:

Next up was Johny Hendricks and Matt Brown in a welterweight battle. This contest also went the distance, with Hendricks pulling out another 30-27 victory on the judges’ scorecards. 

Hendricks dominated this bout, landing 36 significant strikes, with a few especially strong ones coming from his left hand, while making good on nine of his 10 takedown attempts. Fowlkes noted Brown did all he could to fend off Hendricks’ considerable attack, which included grabbing the fence to avoid takedowns:

 Al-Shatti noted that Hendricks can hardly be contained in three-rounders:

If anything, fans certainly couldn’t say they were cheated out of any action in the buildup to the championship bouts. While two of the fights were considerably lopsided, all went the distance and together the three matches showed off a variety of skills and fighting styles.

All stats courtesy of UFC.com.

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