The Ultimate Fighter 28 Finale: Kamaru Usman dominates Rafael Dos Anjos, wants Welterweight Title shot next
What's the story?
In the highly anticipated main event of tonight's Ultimate Fighter 28 Finale, Kamaru Usman kept his unbeaten UFC streak alive, as he defeated former Lightweight Champion, Rafael Dos Anjos in a pretty relentless manner, to say the least.
In case you didn't know...
Having made his UFC debut in 2015 at The Ultimate Fighter 21 Finale, Kamaru Usman has been undefeated in the UFC so far and has been putting clinical performances inside the Octagon, one after the another.
Usman, who since making his debut against Hayder Hassan, has scored impressive wins over Sean Strickland, Sergio Moraes, and also defeated top Welterweight contender Demian Maia as well.
The heart of the matter
Kamaru Usman started off the fight in a strong fashion, as expected, as the Nigerian came forward all guns blazing. Dos Anjos tried to get some offense early on in the fight but failed to contain with Usman, who kept the pressure high. RDA got back in the center and didn't spend too much time trading shots, as he looked to put in the guillotine choke, however, didn't look too committed.
In the second round, Usman again put the pressure on RDA but this time RDA was solid on the defense. However, Usman kept put and kept on attacking RDA relentlessly, however, the latter finished the round strong with a few big strikes before the round concluded.
The third round began in a similar manner with Usman pressuring RDA, the Nigerian constantly took the fight to the ground and much to Dos Anjos' credit, the Brazilian did pretty well on his back. In the final stages of the round, Dos Anjos did create some room but never really had the chance to land any big strikes.
In the fourth round, Dos Anjos looked a lot lively and came forward hoping to drop some big bombs on Usman, but the latter was too much for the Brazilian as he traded strike for strike before once again taking the fight to the floor. Dos Anjos showed his resilience but Usman was way too vicious on his ground-and-pound attacks.
Usman came forward in the final round and looked to end the fight, tripping Dos Anjos to his knee and looked to slip to the back, but the Brazilian used the fence to prevent that advance. Dos Anjos tried to get back to his feet but Usman moved immediately past the legs as the two men hit the floor and from there onwards it was the same story that we witnessed in the last four rounds.
The Nigerian Nightmare pretty much dominated the fight from the start to beginning and his ground game was absolutely amazing, as he went on to secure the split decision win and then called out Welterweight Champion, Tyron Woodley.
What's next?
Current UFC Welterweight Champion, Tyron Woodley is likely to face former Interim Champion, Colby Covington next, however, Kamaru Usman should definitely be the next title challenger in line.