Dos Anjos remains the UFC lightweight champion. Photo: Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC
If last week a Brazilian fighter was quickly defeated in a title fight, the UFC Orlando represented the other side of the coin for the country. Rafael dos Anjos needed just 1min06s to run over Donald Cerrone and successfully defend the organization's lightweight belt.
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In his first fight as champion, Dos Anjos was overwhelming. Even against an opponent known for his dangerous Muay Thai, the Brazilian was willing to settle the bill quickly. Rafael landed a sharp kick to Cerrone's body, which he clearly felt. The Brazilian noticed the good moment and threw in hand strikes, which made Cerrone cower next to the fence.
Desperate, Cerrone tried to take down the Brazilian, who ended up on top: Dos Anjos fired the remaining blows to get the victory, due to the referee's interruption.
After the fight, Dos Anjos sent a message to the UFC featherweight champion, Conor McGregor, which, after knocking out José Aldo in just 13 seconds last week, he showed his desire to join the featherweight division and fight for the title. “If you want to come to lightweight, that’s my category. You'd better stay on the feathers. I'll face you in Brazil, in Ireland, wherever you want, but I'm here to stay”, said the Brazilian.
Thus, Brazil ends 2015 with two belts: in addition to Dos Anjos, his training partner at the Kings MMA academy, Fabricio Werdum, is the champion of the heavyweight division. Cerrone now sees a streak of eight consecutive victories coming to an end.
Check out the complete results from UFC Orlando:
MAIN CARD
Mild: Rafael dos Anjos derrotou Donald Cerrone (punches) at 1min06s of R1
Heavy: alistair overeem derrotou junior gypsy by technical knockout (punches) at 4:43 of R2
Mild: Nate diaz derrotou Michael Johnson in the unanimous decision of the judges (29 to 28, 29 to 28 and 29 to 28)
Straws: Karolina Kowalkiewicz derrotou Randa markos in the unanimous decision of the judges (29 to 28, 29 to 28 and 30 to 27)
PRELIMINARY CARD
Feathers: Charles of the Bronx submitted Myles Jury with a guillotine at 3min05s of R1
Medium: Nate Marquardt knocked out CB Dollaway with a punch at 28 seconds of R2
Roosters: Valentina Shevchenko defeated Sarah Kaufman via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Medium: Tamdan McCrory submitted Josh Samman with a triangle choke at 4:10 of R3
Mild: Nik lentz defeated Danny Castillo via split decision (29 to 28, 28 to 29, 30 to 27)
Feathers: Cole Miller x Jim Alers: no-contest (Alers' accidental finger in Miller's eye) at 1min34s of R2;
Welterweights: Kamaru Usman derrotou Leon edwards in the unanimous decision of the judges (29 to 28, 30 to 27, 29 to 28)
Welterweights: Vincent Luque submitted Hayder Hassan with a hand triangle at 2min13s of R1
Heavy: Francis Ngannou knocked out Luiz Henrique 'KLB' with punches at 2min53s of R2
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