Ultimate moves fight between Rafael dos Anjos and Michael Chiesa to January

R. dos Anjos could return to the Octagon at UFC Raleigh. Photo: Reproduction/Instagram @rdosanjosmma

The former lightweight champion (up to 70,3kg.), Rafael dos Anjos, is close to having its first commitment of 2020 confirmed. The Ultimate board is close to announcing the fight between the Brazilian and the North American Michael chiesa, newly arrived in the welterweight category (up to 77kg.). The athletes will exchange forces at UFC Raleigh, on January 25, in the United States. The information was released by 'ESPN'.

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If confirmed, the fight against Chiesa will be a starting point for Rafael to recover from his last defeat, when he was beaten by Leon edwards, in the main fight of UFC San Antônio, in July.

Michael, in turn, tries to establish himself and guarantee a good phase in the division that, today, is dominated by Kamaru Usman. The North American, who moved up from lightweight, debuted in the new category in December last year. On that occasion, the athlete hit Carlos Condit via submission at UFC 232.

Chiesa went through another trial by fire, in July, when he crashed Diego Sanchez in one of the battles UFC 239. A triumph over the Brazilian, then, in addition to adding the third consecutive victory for the North American, would place him in an excellent position in the category ranking, in which, currently, Dos Anjos is in fifth.

Recently, Rafael invested in promoting a fight against Conor McGregor, away from the octagons since he was defeated by Khabib Nurmagomedov, in October last year. Dos Anjos and the Irishman should have faced each other in 2015, when the Brazilian held the lightweight title. An injury, however, took the Rio native out of the match. In this way, Rafael would like to prove who would win the confrontation.

With all the harassment surrounding McGregor's return to the sport, speculated to take place on January 18, Rafael's request ended up being ignored by the company.

At 35 years old, Dos Anjos currently has 42 appearances in his professional MMA career, with 30 wins and 12 losses.

Chiesa, 31, has 21 fights, with 16 triumphs and five setbacks.