Rivalries: Rafael dos Anjos

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Rafael dos Anjos’ place among the all-time Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweights seems secure as he enters the twilight phase of his stellar career.

The 37-year-old Brazilian will return to the stage for the second time in 2022 when he confronts the once-beaten Rafael Fiziev in the UFC Fight Night 209 main event on July 9 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Dos Anjos enters the Octagon on the strength of back-to-back victories. He last appeared at UFC 272, where he took a five-round unanimous decision from Renato Carneiro in their March 5 co-feature.

As Dos Anjos prepares for his showdown with Fiziev, a look at some of the rivalries that have helped chart his course:

Jeremy Stephens

“Lil Heathen” carries enough thunder in his hands to knock out a grizzly bear, a reality to which dos Anjos can certainly attest. The Brazilian made his organizational debut opposite Stephens as part of the UFC 91 undercard on Nov. 15, 2008 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, and it did not go according to plan. Dos Anjos performed well through the first 10 minutes, as he held his own on the feet, executed four takedowns and employed an active submission game, working an omoplata in the first round and threatening with an armbar in the second. It was not enough to keep the aggressive Stephens at bay. The Iowan reversed into top position late in Round 2, applied his ground-and-pound and turned the tide. Stephens made certain the judges would play no part in the outcome early in the third round, where dos Anjos took a defensive posture and elected to circle on the outside. Stephens clipped him with an overhand right and then sent a wicked right uppercut crashing into his chin. Dos Anjos hit the deck in a dazed state and was in no condition to defend against the barrage of right hands that followed. The end came 39 seconds into Round 3.

Nate Diaz

Dos Anjos traumatized “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 5 winner with leg kicks and ground-and-pound in claiming a one-sided unanimous decision in the UFC on Fox 13 co-main event on Dec. 13, 2014 at the US Airways Center in Phoenix. Scores were 30-26, 30-26 and 30-27. Diaz, who missed weight for the match by more than four pounds, looked lethargic and at times disinterested. Dos Anjos battered the inside and outside of his lead leg with crippling kicks throughout the first round, rendering the Stockton, California, native virtually inept from an offensive standpoint. The Brazilian opened a cut near Diaz’s eye with a straight left in the second round, mixed in takedowns and answered his opponent’s taunts and slaps from the bottom by piling up points with ground-and-pound. Dos Anjos outlanded the Cesar Gracie protégé by a 129-51 margin and was credited with nearly eight minutes of control time.

Anthony Pettis

The Kings MMA rep had an answer for everything Pettis threw his way, as he became the seventh lightweight titleholder in Ultimate Fighting Championship history and earned a surprisingly one-sided unanimous decision over “Showtime” in the UFC 185 headliner on March 14, 2015 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas. All three judges scored it 50-45. Pettis was on his heels from the start. Dos Anjos bottled up the Roufusport star with merciless forward pressure on the feet and a continuous stream of takedowns across 25 minutes. The Brazilian made few mistakes while doing so. Dos Anjos bashed the Milwaukee native with left hands throughout the five-round fight, leaving him with serious damage to his right eye. He was the superior fighter in all phases: Dos Anjos connected on 144 strikes, 90 of them significant, and was successful on nine of his 10 takedown attempts. He passed the Pettis guard five times, moving to his back in the third, fourth and fifth rounds.

Donald Cerrone

Dos Anjos made “Cowboy” look ordinary and moved to 2-0 in the second of their two head-to-head meetings when he blasted through the World Extreme Cagefighting veteran with a wicked body kick and follow-up punches to retain the undisputed light heavyweight championship in the UFC on Fox 17 marquee attraction on Dec. 19, 2015 at the Amway Center in Orlando, Florida. Cerrone succumbed to blows 66 seconds into Round 1, halting his run of eight straight victories. The champion got right to work. He jumped Cerrone with his ever-improving hands, softened him with a knee to the midsection and doubled over the Jackson-Wink MMA rep with a left kick to the solar plexus. Cerrone never recovered. Dos Anjos swarmed with punches, sprawled out of a desperate takedown attempt, wheeled to the back and put it away with unanswered rights to the head. He had taken a unanimous decision from Cerrone in their initial encounter at UFC Fight Night 27 in August 2013.

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Eddie Alvarez

“The Underground King” believed in himself, even when few others did, and took out the incumbent lightweight champion with punches in the first round of their UFC Fight Night 90 main event on July 7, 2016 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Dos Anjos absorbed a hellacious beating, until referee Herb Dean had seen enough and called for the stoppage 3:49 into Round 1. Alvarez picked his spot and did not miss. The former Bellator MMA titleholder whipped a wide right hook around dos Anjos’ defenses and set him on rubbery legs. The Brazilian was not afforded the opportunity to regain his wits. Alvarez flew in with an incredible burst of power punches, briefly wound up on his back after a wild attempt at a flying knee and closed out the Rafael Cordeiro disciple with a final volley of violent hooks and right uppercuts along the fence. The loss snapped dos Anjos’ five-fight winning streak and made Alvarez the first fighter in history to capture gold in both Bellator and the UFC.

Colby Covington

Much of the mixed martial arts community loves to hate the MMA Masters rep, but no one—not even the proud dos Anjos—can deny the world-class skill or indomitable competitive spirit he brings to the table. Covington neutralized the Brazilian across five rounds, laid claim to a unanimous decision and took home the interim welterweight championship in the UFC 225 co-headliner on June 9, 2018 at the United Center in Chicago. Scores were 49-46, 48-47 and 48-47. Covington outlanded his adversary by a narrow clip in the second, third and fifth rounds, but takedowns and his command of the cage were much bigger pieces of the puzzle. He converted seven of his 18 takedown attempts, accrued 12:37 of control time and more often than not forced dos Anjos to engage on his terms. The onetime lightweight champion had his moments, but they were too few and far between to sway the judiciary.