Former UFC lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos has this week confirmed he’ll stay at welterweight for the remainder of his career – unless a superfight tempts a 155lb return – stressing future possibilities are endless and another title shot could figure, especially with an impressive win over perennial contender Vicente Luque in tonight’s UFC Vegas 78 main event overnight.
dos Anjos: Beat Vicente now… everything can happen
Welterweight: Vicente Luque [10] vs. Rafael dos Anjos [9, lightweight]
Estimated ring walks around 3am — prelims at 9pm BST, main card midnight
Live on TNT Sports in UK, ESPN and ESPN+ in USA
- “I’ll be 39 in October and feel good at welterweight. I fought in this division before, for the title… went the distance with the champion, and yeah, I decided to make the move up. At 155lb… three or four more times to be honest, just too hard on my body. I think at 170lbs, I can go longer and extend my career more,” the Brazilian on his changed motivations
- “They did all the testing, exams and everything went well – my body was recovering – even the way I spar has changed, much more technical and I work in a way where I’m not getting into brawls anymore. We push hard physically with cardio, but don’t need to be hitting and hurting each other,” Luque after recovering from a brain hemorrhage last August
- Luque waited six months before sparring, and has been naturally cautious ever since – was medically cleared by the NSAC to fight, but can RDA now capitalise against an opponent in need of renewed confidence?
After consecutive defeats – in contrasting circumstances – during his rematch with Belal Muhammad and a third-round KO by Geoff Neal in a four-month span last year, Vicente Luque has taken time off from competition.
He needed to, recovering from a scary brain hemorrhage suffered in the aftermath of his most recent fight twelve months ago.
Riding a four-fight win streak into 2022, the question now is whether he’s lost all that momentum after a humbling experience sent his career into perspective.
“That was the first time [he’s been knocked out] and before that, I’ve only been knocked down by Wonderboy and Barberena if I’m not mistaken, never KO’d in training, so it’s not something common or a normal feeling – definitely felt different. Now I’m back, would even say better than 100%, a much better fighter than before and definitely blessed.”
dos Anjos has won three of his last four contests, having lost four of five immediately beforehand, but the 37-year-old’s resume speaks for itself – losing to current and former welterweight champions, as well as falling short in the battle for interim gold, is no disgrace for a fighter of his evergreen qualities. He’s still among the elite.
Since his split decision loss to Gleison Tibau at UFC 139, Nov. 2011… dos Anjos has a 17-8 record and those defeats:
Khabib Nurmagomedov UD3, April 2014
Eddie Alvarez R1 TKO, July 2016
Tony Ferguson UD5, Nov. 2016
Colby Covington UD5, June 2018
Kamaru Usman UD5, Nov. 2018
Leon Edwards UD5, July 2018
Michael Chiesa UD3, Jan. 2020
Rafael Fiziev R5 KO, July 2022
Whether he’ll be able to build on the Barberena win, in a weight division he feels more comfortable in, depends very much on his approach and particular style matchups. Luque might favour his chances in boxing range, but dos Anjos is no slouch with his stand-up game. The takedowns and jiu-jitsu speak for themselves.
UFC Vegas 78 card, is as follows
Main card (Sunday, midnight BST)
Welterweight: Vicente Luque [10] vs. Rafael dos Anjos [9, lightweight]
Featherweight: Cub Swanson vs. Hakeem Dawodu
Light-heavyweight: Khalil Rountree Jr [13] vs. Chris Daukaus [14, heavyweight]
Women’s Strawweight: Polyana Viana vs. Iasmin Lucindo
Catchweight (189.5lbs): AJ Dobson vs. Tafon Nchukwi
Catchweight (189lbs): Josh Fremd vs. Jamie Pickett
Prelims (Saturday, 9pm BST)
Bantamweight: JP Buys vs. Marcus McGhee
Lightweight: Terrance McKinney vs. Mike Breeden
Featherweight: Francis Marshall vs. Isaac Dulgarian
Heavyweight: Josh Parisian vs. Martin Buday
Women’s Strawweight: Jaqueline Amorim vs. Montserrat Ruiz
Bantamweight: Da’Mon Blackshear vs. Jose Johnson
Women’s Flyweight: Juliana Miller vs. Luana Santos
Picture source: Getty Images, dos Anjos and Luque quotes via mmajunkie as hyperlinked
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