R. dos Anjos (right) faces A. Pettis (left) for the lightweight belt. Photo: Reproduction
With ten belts, Brazil is the second country with the most titles in UFC history, behind only the United States. Despite this, however, Brazilian athletes have never been at the top of the lightweight category, one of the most competitive in the organization. And that is precisely what the carioca will try, this Saturday (14), Rafael dos Anjos, which challenges the champion Anthony Pettis in the main fight of the packed UFC 185 card.
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Coming from jiu-jitsu, Rafael was for a long time considered a one-dimensional athlete, only capable of developing his game on the ground. The Brazilian's turbulent start in the Octagon, with two consecutive defeats, justified the distrust and left him hanging by a thread in the organization. However, the turning point in Dos Anjos' career came with his move to Thailand, where he honed his Muay Thai on the Evolve MMA team. He also changed his camps to the United States and started training at Kings MMA, a team led by former Chute Boxe leader Rafael Cordeiro. The result was a Rafael dos Anjos almost as dangerous in striking as he was in grapple.
The fruits of hard work and intensive training came mainly from 2012 onwards, when the Rio native put together a sequence of eight wins and just one defeat in eight fights, including triumphs over big names like Donald Cerrone, Ben henderson e Nate diaz, the last one exactly what qualified him to compete for the title. First placed in the under-70,3 kg division ranking, Rafael also became only the second athlete from Brazil to fight for the belt in the category – the first was Hermes França, defeated by Sean Sherk in 2006, in a fight in which both athletes were caught in an anti-doping test and Sherk ended up being subsequently stripped of his title as champion.
However, to add a happy ending to his saga of overcoming and definitively write his name in the history of Ultimate and Brazilian MMA, Rafael dos Anjos You will have to face the biggest challenge of your career. That's because on the other side of the octagon in Dallas (USA) will be the champion Anthony Pettis. Known for his flashy game and innate martial arts ability, Pettis owns one of the most unorthodox styles in the sport and has starred in several unique moments throughout his career. His is, for example, the famous “Showtime Kick”, a kick after walking across the grid, applied to Ben henderson in the dispute for the extinct WEC belt. Furthermore, he is a 3rd degree black belt in taekwondo and has a decent ground game, being a brown belt in jiu-jitsu and having won his last two fights by submission.
Esparza makes his first defense against a Polish woman with an unpronounceable name
Esparza (right) and Joanna (left) almost faced each other awkwardly. Photo: Josh Hedges/UFC
Se Carla esparza made her name as the first champion of the recently opened women's strawweight category, after beating Rose namajunas In the TUF 20 final, Polish Joanna Jędrzejczyk draws attention mainly due to her almost unpronounceable name. The fighter herself has already recognized the difficulty for non-initiated Polish speakers to reproduce the sea of consonants that is her family's name and even joked about the matter, saying in a recent interview that journalists could rest assured that they would soon call her just “Joanna Campeã”.
The fight between Esparza and Jedrezjczyk is also a classic clash of styles. While the champion specializes in Olympic fighting and still has poor striking skills, the challenger has her main weapon in the stand-up game and should cause problems for her rival with her good height and wingspan advantage.
Main card also has former champions, from MMA and the Olympics
Hendricks, Overeem and Cejudo are other stars on the main card. Photo: SUPER FIGHTS Production (Disclosure)
Despite the two title fights that close the night, the UFC 185 card is interesting beyond the main fights, especially due to the presence of three important champions.
The first one is John hendricks. The former welterweight champion gave up a trilogy for the belt against Robbie Lawler to return to fight sooner and will take part in the third to last fight of the night. Hendricks' opponent will be the “Immortal” Matt Brown.
In the heavyweight duel of the night, the former champion of the extinct Strikeforce Alliastair Overeem will face the “chubby” Roy Nelson.
Furthermore, in the fight that opens the main card, the Olympic champion in wrestling Henry Cejudo faces former flyweight title challenger Chris Cariaso. Considered one of the most promising athletes of the new generation of MMA, Cejudo has had problems making weight throughout his career and also struggles with the scale to remain at the top of the 57 kg division.
Check out the complete UFC 185 technical sheet:
DATE: 14/03/2015;
SCHEDULE: From 19pm (Brasília time);
PLACE: American Airlines Center, Dallas, Texas (USA);
STREAMING: Combat Channel.
COMPLETE CARD:
MAIN CARD
Light weight (up to 70,3 kg): Anthony Pettis x Rafael dos Anjos;
Straw weight (up to 51,2 kg): Carla esparza x Joanna Jedrzejczyk;
Welterweight (up to 77,1 kg): John hendricks x Matt Brown;
Heavy weight (up to 120 kg): alistair overeem x Roy Nelson;
Flyweight (up to 57 kg): Chris Cariaso x Henry Cejudo.
PRELIMINARY CARD
Lightweight (up to 70,3 kg): Ross Pearson x Sam stout;
Middleweight (up to 84 kg): Elias Theodorou x Roger Narvaez;
Lightweight (up to 70,3 kg): Daron Cruickshank x Beneil Dariush;
Heavyweight (up to 120 kg): Jared Rosholt x Josh Copeland;
Flyweight (up to 57 kg): Sergio Pettis x Ryan Benoit;
Lightweight (up to 70,3 kg): Jake Lindsey x Joseph Duffy;
Bantam weight (up to 61,2 kg): Larissa pacheco x Germain de Randamie.
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