The UFC’s lightweight division has passed the point of being a proverbial shark tank. There is a long list of fighters who are waiting in the wings to challenge champion Anthony Pettis.
Rafael dos Anjos is just one of those fighters who can lay claim t…
The UFC’s lightweight division has passed the point of being a proverbial shark tank. There is a long list of fighters who are waiting in the wings to challenge champion Anthony Pettis.
Rafael dos Anjos is just one of those fighters who can lay claim to that top contender’s spot. However, he has to get past Nate Diaz at UFC on Fox 13 on Saturday first. When looking at both of these men, they each have specific pathways to follow for victory.
Diaz vs. Dos Anjos is an interesting take on the striker vs. grappler matchup. Nate battles much like his brother Nick, looking to overwhelm his opponent with constant boxing combinations and forcing him to either fold under the storm or make a bad attempt on a takedown. Once the fight hits the floor, Diaz can then show off his Brazilian jiu-jitsu chops that have helped him earn 11 of his 17 wins.
However, Dos Anjos is not to be outdone on the mat.
The Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt has eight submission victories of his own. However, that should not be considered his best route to victory. In fact, he should use his BJJ as a deterrent once this fight hits the mat in order to stave off any attacks that Diaz might attempt. Instead, Dos Anjos should lean on his developing wrestling and kickboxing abilities to secure the win.
He has looked like a different fighter in many of his recent bouts. Based on his performance statistics provided by FightMetric, he has had a lot of success when he has scored multiple takedowns. One one hand, in four of his five defeats within the Octagon, his opponents took him down and controlled the positioning of the bout. On the other hand, in seven of his victories, he scored more than two takedowns of his own.
Diaz has never been known as much of a wrestling artist. In fact, he has two total takedowns in his last eight fights while defending only 45 percent of takedowns sent his way, via FightMetric.
This dynamic will give Dos Anjos the edge when it comes to the wrestling, but the question still remains as to how well his striking will compare to Diaz’s volume game. Diaz consistently overwhelms opponents with his pressure and boxing. If he can control the range of this fight and pressure Dos Anjos into bad spots, that will help him avoid being smothered on the mat. While Dos Anjos has only been stopped twice in his career—once by TKO and once by submission—Diaz has the ability to pile up the points on strikes.
The question coming into Dos Anjos vs. Diaz is where this fight will take place. If Diaz can control the range, he will have a better shot at picking up the win. However, if Dos Anjos can weather the storm, score takedowns and pepper Diaz with leg kicks, he will claim an important decision victory at a time when the lightweight division is starting to open up for new title contenders.
UFC on Fox 13 features three heavyweight fights and a top-15 lightweight tilt as well on the main card.
No. 2-ranked heavyweight contender Junior dos Santos goes up against No. 4-ranked Stipe Miocic in the main event, and No. 3-ranked lightweight conte…
UFC on Fox 13 features three heavyweight fights and a top-15 lightweight tilt as well on the main card.
No. 2-ranked heavyweight contender Junior dos Santos goes up against No. 4-ranked StipeMiocic in the main event, and No. 3-ranked lightweight contender Rafael dos Anjos battles No. 14-ranked Nate Diaz in the co-main event.
Before any fights happen the fighters must first make weight on Friday afternoon.
Bleacher Report will have complete coverage of the weigh-in proceedings at 5 p.m. ET. Stick around for all the happenings from Phoenix.
Nate Diaz is back, and he most certainly has his work cut out for him.
In a lightweight throwdown that could produce the next top title threat to challenge champion Anthony Pettis, Diaz will make his return to the Octagon after a one-year absence to me…
Nate Diaz is back, and he most certainly has his work cut out for him.
In a lightweight throwdown that could produce the next top title threat to challenge champion Anthony Pettis, Diaz will make his return to the Octagon after a one-year absence to meet a red-hot Rafael dos Anjos this weekend at UFC on Fox 13.
The 155-pound tilt will serve as the co-main event, setting this one up for three very tantalizing rounds.
On paper, Diaz does have the advantage. But with an evolved striking facet and a mean streak that Matt Brown would be proud of, RDA has made huge strides in the division since Diaz last competed in 2013, notably knocking out Benson Henderson in one round back in August.
So strap in, fight fans. Here is a full head-to-toe breakdown for one of the most interesting lightweight clashes of 2014.
It wouldn’t be the UFC lightweight division without a little bit of intrigue, now would it?
Long regarded as the fight company’s deepest, most competitive weight class, the 155-pound ranks are never at a loss for title contenders. While all…
It wouldn’t be the UFC lightweight division without a little bit of intrigue, now would it?
Long regarded as the fight company’s deepest, most competitive weight class, the 155-pound ranks are never at a loss for title contenders. While allegedly top-of-the-food-chain divisions like heavyweight and light heavyweight eternally scrounge for worthwhile talent, lightweight is an embarrassment of riches.
Such is the case right now, as we approach the home stretch of 2014 with no fewer than three top challengers patiently awaiting the champion’s return. As it stands, the biggest test facing UFC matchmakers might be getting KhabibNurmagomedov, Donald Cerrone and Rafael dos Anjos to form an orderly line.
This has not been an easy year for the 155-pound title. Anthony Pettis spent the last 13 months on the shelf due to a significant knee injury. The UFC has resorted to its usual methods to keep the champ in the spotlight, using him as a television analyst and booking him to serve as a coach on the latest season of The Ultimate Fighter. It’ll still be two more months before Pettis returns to defend the title against Gilbert Melendez at UFC 181 and at least a few months after that before anybody else gets his chance.
So, at least we have some time to break up the logjam, before it becomes an even more snarled mess.
At the time of this writing, Nurmagomedov may well have the inside track. The undefeated Dagestani has also been on ice since July, rehabbing a torn meniscus suffered just 30 minutes after he was announced for a potential title eliminator against Cerrone at UFC 178. But prior to that, he’d amassed six straight wins in the Octagon (he’s an astounding 22-0 overall), including a unanimous decision over dos Anjos in April.
No one has been able to foil his hard-nosed grappling attack and unorthodox, occasionally wild striking. Prior to coming to the UFC in 2012, he’d garnered 13 stoppages in 16 fights—10 of them in the first round.
Even while he’s been out nursing an injury, Nurmagomedov has managed to stay visible. He’s fashioned himself into an entertaining social media follow, lashing out at Pettis and Nate Diaz on Twitter. He’s also reportedly worked hard to learn English, the results of which were apparent when he spoke to Fox Sports’ Damon Martin last month.
“You tell me that Anthony Pettis or Gilbert Melendez is ready to go by April or May and I’ll be ready to go,” Nurmagomedov said. “Please give me my title shot, I deserve it. I smashed everybody. … If the UFC gives me the title shot, you will have a new undefeated and undisputed lightweight champion.”
Barring any further delays, a spring return would indeed put Nurmagomedov in the right place at the right time to greet the winner of Pettis-Melendez. If not that, certainly few would argue with trying to reschedule his canceled bout with Cerrone.
The rise of Cowboy Version 2.0 has been one of this year’s most pleasant developments. After Cerrone went 1-2 during 2013—with losses to Pettis and dos Anjos—it was tempting to think we’d already seen the best of him in the UFC. But then the Greg Jackson-trained fighter bounced back with a 2014 that made it appear he’s just getting started.
Cerrone is 4-0 so far this year, and his most recent appearances—against Jim Miller and Eddie Alvarez—made him look every bit a legitimate contender in the sport’s most cutthroat weight class.
There’s just not a lot to dislike about what he’s doing right now. Cerrone has locked in his personal marketing style—Can-do attitude? Check. Budweiser sponsorship? Check.—at exactly the right time. With his skills also reaching their zenith, it feels like a potent combination. If anything will keep him from reaching his full potential as a title contender, it could be his insistence on trying to fight as many as a half-dozen times a year.
He’s let it be known he doesn’t care much about rankings and titles so long as he can fight early and often. As I wrote a week ago, that credo has made him a star, but it sounds like close to a suicide mission in the stacked lightweight class. Chances are, he’ll slip up and lose a fight or two before a championship opportunity comes his way.
But Cerrone is popular and exciting and (lately) one of the best fighters in the division. He could slide into an immediate title shot, and very few eyebrows would be raised over it. Perhaps a late injury to a current or future challenger would be the shortest distance between him and a championship bout.
It’s strange to say it, but dos Anjos feels like the odd man out in all of this. He’s 7-1 dating back to May 2012—with a win over Cerrone but a loss to Nurmagomedov—and is coming off an impressive knockout victory over former champion Benson Henderson. But it also somehow feels like dos Anjos is still in the process of separating himself from the pack.
Much of that is a problem of perception, obviously. Everybody knows and loves Cerrone. Nurmagomedov is also fast becoming one of the division’s best-liked fighters. Meanwhile, it doesn’t feel like dos Anjos has given fans anything to really sink their teeth into. As a result, a fight between him and the Pettis-Melendez winner wouldn’t necessarily be splashy enough to main event a UFC pay-per-view in early 2015.
Chances are, though, one of these three guys will be up next.
From a distance, there doesn’t appear to be much separating them. In a perfect world—which, let’s face it, is often too much to hope for in this sport—Nurmagomedov would face Pettis or Melendez in early spring while Cerrone and dos Anjos both get one more fight to prove themselves.
Much, though, will likely depend on timing as well as the outcome of the upcoming lightweight championship fight. If Melendez wins or some other calamity prevents the emergence of a clear-cut winner, it could necessitate an immediate rematch. Given what we already know about Pettis, another injury delay is also not out of the question. In that case, all bets could be off.
But with Nurmagomeov, Cerrone and dos Anjos all on deck—not to mention fighters like Myles Jury and Bobby Green coming up behind them—the biggest issue facing the lightweight division will continue to be picking the right contender from the crowd.
Diaz hasn’t competed since his first-round TKO of Gray Maynard at the TUF 18 Finale last November, which snapped a two-fight losing streak. Rafael Dos Anjos is coming off the biggest win of his career — a first-round knockout of Benson Henderson last month — and has won seven of his last eight fights. Your predictions, please.
Diaz hasn’t competed since his first-round TKO of Gray Maynard at the TUF 18 Finale last November, which snapped a two-fight losing streak. Rafael Dos Anjos is coming off the biggest win of his career — a first-round knockout of Benson Henderson last month — and has won seven of his last eight fights. Your predictions, please.
Benson Henderson is one of the most polarizing individuals in the UFC’s lightweight division. The former champion seems to garner more hatred every time he steps into the cage. After suffering his second defeat eight days before the one-year anni…
Benson Henderson is one of the most polarizing individuals in the UFC’s lightweight division. The former champion seems to garner more hatred every time he steps into the cage. After suffering his second defeat eight days before the one-year anniversary of losing the belt to Anthony Pettis, one must wonder what is next for the man simply known as “Smooth.”
Henderson’s defeat at the hands of Rafael dos Anjos has pushed him down to No. 4 in the UFC’s official rankings. Unfortunately for Henderson, he might as well hold a ranking spot that is well out of the Top 10, because that defeat at UFC Fight Night: Henderson vs. dos Anjos has completely knocked him out of the immediate title picture. Names such as Donald Cerrone, Eddie Alvarez and Bobby Green can quickly leapfrog him if they put together an impressive performance before the end of 2014. So what does this mean for Henderson, and will he lose his motivation for the sport? Hopefully the answer is no.
When looking at this question the first step is to review Henderson’s comments about his plans to walk away from the sport of MMA. In a 2013 interview with Ariel Helwani of MMA Fighting, the former champion discussed his thoughts on retirement.
“By the time I hit 33 I intend on retiring. I’m done after that,” Henderson told Helwani during the conversation. “Fighting is hard, fighting is tough. You get beat up in the body. It’s hard; it takes a toll on your body.”
Henderson made those comments in April 2013 before he was able to defeat Gilbert Melendez for his third defense of the title. His fortunes have not been so great since that interview, and now he finds himself in a perplexing position within the lightweight division. However, that does not mean he should lose his motivation for both this weight class and beyond.
First, if Henderson can put together a string of 3-4 wins within the next year, he may find himself in a position in which the UFC will need him. Henderson has a track record of staying pretty active in the cage, and that can play to his advantage. Recent developments have seen the UFC deal with injury issues in multiple main events in 2014.
If Benson can win some bouts and do so in a highlight-reel fashion, he can place himself on the short list of fighters the UFC calls if it needs a late replacement. He isn’t really in the position to turn down any opportunities that may come via injury as this may be the only route for him to leap to the top of the lightweight heap.
The second option for Henderson is a potential move to welterweight. This conversation is not a new talking point in reference to the former title holder. Comments dating back to 2011 have referenced Henderson moving up to 170 pounds. An interview with Geno Mrosko of Bloody Elbow revealed that Benson has made preparations to make the eventual move.
“As I get older, I eat healthier, try to eat the right things, make all these little sacrifices that it takes to be a champion,” Henderson said to Mrosko. “Hopefully, eventually my technique catches up where I can hang with guys that are freaking 20 pounds heavier than me, and use more of my speed when they are bigger and slower, and my technique makes up for them being stronger than me.”
These are two very interesting opportunities that await Henderson when he does return to fighting. While he may not have been the most popular of fighters and earned some heat for controversial wins, the truth remains that he is a very tough foil for any athlete placed opposite the Octagon. Whatever Henderson decides to do going forward will be worth watching out for by anyone who could be an eventual opponent.
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