"I would love to fight guys like Jim Miller, Jorge Masvidal or get my rematch with Tony Ferguson"- Rafael Dos Anjos plans to go out on a high note in the last stages of his MMA career
Rafael Dos Anjos has had a storied career in the UFC. Dos Anjos became a lightweight champion at UFC 185 in 2015 and defended his belt once. Dos Anjos has been with the promotion since 2008, and his next fight will also be his 33rd with the promotion. This will push him into a tie for the fifth-most fights in the UFC. As his career nears its conclusion, Dos Anjos detailed his plans for his final chapter.
I had my last title run…and now it is time to fight people that motivates me to wake up and train. I have almost eight hours of octagon time…get me a veteran for a change!I would love to fight guys like Jim Miller, Jorge Masvidal or get my rematch with Tony Fergunson or Guida.
It makes sense that Rafael Dos Anjos, who Brendan Schaub recently stated has had the toughest schedule in UFC history, would like to fight veterans before riding off into the sunset. He feels that he is no longer in title contention, so taking difficult fights against contenders isn't wise for somebody with 45 career fights in a two-decade career.
Felder, Chiesa, Edwards, Lee, Usman, Covington, Lawler, Magny, Saffiedine, Ferguson, Alvarez, Cerrone, Pettis, Diaz, Benson, High, Khabib, Cerrone.
For real, just stare at that list for a second.
You're looking at the last 18 men Rafael dos Anjos has fought. That's insane.
Dos Anjos' last matchup was against the much younger Rafael Fiziev, who was in just his 13th career mixed martial arts fight. Although Dos Anjos was competitive, he was knocked out in the fifth-round. Some felt the stoppage was questionable, but Dos Anjos stated that his opponent won 'fair and square'.
Rafael Fiziev knocks out former UFC lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos in round five #UFCVegas58 https://t.co/Ax09kuJEat
The list of fighters that Rafael Dos Anjos chose to call out is interesting, particularly because Jorge Masvidal fights at welterweight. Dos Anjos has not competed at welterweight in over two and a half years and has had far more success as a lightweight, making his decision to potentally move back up interesting.
Rafael Dos Anjos recently stated he could have beat Khabib Nurmagomedov with a better camp
Rafael Dos Anjos and Khabib Nurmagomedov faced off in 2014, before Dos Anjos was a champion, long before Khabib established himself as one of the greatest fighters in UFC history. Khabib controlled the fight, as he often did in his career, and walked away with the unanimous decision.
Dos Anjos recently made headlines when he stated that his training may have held him back in that matchup:
I didn't do grappling training for that fight... I did more like a Muay Thai training, striking training, to fight the best grappler in UFC history... 40 days after that fight, I fought again. In other words, he didn't hurt me at all... If I had trained well, better grappling and all, I would have been able to do better.
It was interesting to hear Dos Anjos' viewpoint on the fight. While he didn't claim to have beaten the undefeated Khabib, the fight may have been much less dominant if Dos Anjos had worked on his grappling.