5 things you didn't know about former UFC lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos
Rafael dos Anjos made a successful return to his former division with a split decision win over Paul Felder.
In his first outing as a lightweight since 2016, former champion Rafael dos Anjos went up against #7 ranked Paul Felder at UFC Vegas 14. Scores of 50-45 from two judges made him the winner of the bout.
However, Paul Felder deserves full credit for not only taking up a fight at less than a week's notice, but to successfully make weight and put up a great fight to RDA.
Rafael dos Anjos was originally scheduled to face Islam Makhachev in the main event on Saturday night. But the latter had to pull out of the fight due to health reasons. Paul Felder, who was supposed to be present at UFC Apex on that night as a color commentator for the event, agreed to step in and save the day.
Felder's decision was met with applause from the MMA world, for agreeing to take a fight against a former champion on such short notice. Rafael dos Anjos himself lauded Felder for the call.
Post-fight, Rafael dos Anjos called out Conor McGregor for a fight. 'The Notorious' readily accepted the challenge, as expected, but said that he wants to deal with Dustin Poirier first, whom he is set to meet on January 23.
Conor McGregor and Rafael dos Anjos were once booked to fight before in 2016, but the bout got cancelled. McGregor shared pictures from the face-off of that title bout.
On the occasion of the former lightweight champion's return to his old division, here are five things about Rafael dos Anjos that you might not have known.
#5 Rafael dos Anjos skipped school to learn MMA
Rafael dos Anjos grew up in Fonseca district in Niteroi, Brazil. His first introduction to mixed martial arts was through his cousin Rodrigo Souza, who used to train capoeira at Henrique Lage School. But it was fighting on the streets that really got him into the sport.
A 8-9 year-old Rafael dos Anjos would see neighborhood kids grapple on the streets, and sometimes he would join in. Eventually, he stopped fighting in the streets ands started training jiu-jitsu in the gym.
RDA fell in love with MMA so much, that he started skipping school to make time for training sessions, even though the gym was far away from his house. His mother was a very busy woman, working multiple jobs to run the house. She did not even notice that her son now had a slightly different schedule than before.
"I think I spent six months without going to school for classes. I walked straight by it to go train jiu-jitsu. When I had money I took the bus, or would ride a bike or even walk to the gym. It was far away from my house, like eight miles or something. I always found a way to get there. My mother was very busy, she worked a lot, so she wouldn’t notice it. I skipped class one day to train, went normally the other, and then would skip two or three days of school. My mother was very busy. She had other problems to deal with, so she didn’t even notice it." (via MMA Fighting)