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Pettis vs. Dos Anjos: Result, Keys and Highlights from UFC 185 Main Event

Almost no one saw this coming. On Saturday night in Dallas at UFC 185, Rafael dos Anjos dethroned UFC lightweight champion Anthony “Showtime” Pettis by unanimous decision, and it wasn’t even close.
Pettis had stood up to the challenge from Gilbert Mele…

Pettis had stood up to the challenge from Gilbert Melendez at UFC 182 in Dec. 2014. Some likened dos Anjos‘ style to Melendez’s and figured Pettis would win this fight as he had the last. That wasn’t the case.

Dos Anjos won all five rounds on all three judges’ scorecards.

Per Damon Martin of Fox Sports, dos Anjos did it all at less than 100 percent.

Thomas Gerbasi of UFC.com captured this quote from dos Anjos after the big win.

“I came from the bottom,” the new lightweight champ said. “I couldn’t ever imagine in my life being here, fighting in a main event and being UFC champion.”

There were three huge keys to dos Anjos‘ title-winning performance.

Chin

When Pettis fought Melendez, the champion was able to catch the challenger coming in by landing hard right-hand counters. The punch led to Pettis‘ submission victory on that night. On Saturday, he landed similar shots and two head kicks, but dos Anjos shrugged them off.

It had to be demoralizing for Pettis to land shots that had little effect on his hard-charging opponent. Pettis probably figured the punches would stem the tide, but instead, dos Anjos kept pushing forward while sticking to his game plan.

Striking Accuracy

The left hand of dos Anjos was money all night, and the same can be said about his entire striking game. Dos Anjos landed 90 of 171 significant strikes for a connect rate of 53 percent.

Dos Anjos was unpredictable in his approach. He’d land the left hook, briefly look to follow up, but he’d then sink down to secure the takedown. It proved to be a winning strategy.

Stamina

With all the pressure dos Anjos was applying, it wouldn’t have been surprising if he was tired during the championship rounds. Instead, dos Anjos maintained his torrid pace throughout.

Dos Anjos had four takedowns in the championship rounds and still landed 24 of 40 significant strikes. He just wouldn’t let up, and the effort won him the title.

Stats per UFC.com.

Follow Brian Mazique on Twitter. I dig boxing and MMA.

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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.
…

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.

Follow Brian Mazique on Twitter. I dig boxing and MMA.

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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…

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:

White confirms the winner of Khabib and Cerrone will be next for title shot. However, depends on health of Dos Anjos

— Jason Floyd (@Jason_Floyd) March 15, 2015

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:

RDA just let me know he has an injured MCL and DIDNT wrestle for the last 4 weeks leading into the fight

— Megan Olivi (@MeganOlivi) March 15, 2015

Want to be more amazed by RDA? According to @AliAbdelaziz00, dos Anios tore his MCL three weeks ago.

— John Morgan (@MMAjunkieJohn) March 15, 2015

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.

For more UFC news and coverage, follow @DHiergesell.

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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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