Dos Anjos wants to face Nick Diaz in his welterweight debut

Dos Anjos moved up to welterweight (Photo: Brandon Magnus/UFC)

The target now is Nick Diaz. After being challenged by Anderson Silva e Tony Ferguson, it was the turn to Rafael dos Anjos reveal the desire to face the bad boy North American. Last Friday (10), during an interview at UFC Fortaleza, the former lightweight champion, who recently announced his move up to welterweight, revealed that he would like to face Nick in his next fight. For him, the interest is in facing only the big names in the weight class.

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“I've been talking about this. I was thinking that the Nick Diaz it would be a good fight. I already have a history with his brother (he won Nate diaz in December 2014, at UFC: Cigano x Miocic) and he is there without fighting. But I also don't know if he's in the mood to fight right now. Then they ask me: “Do you want to start with these guys?” Man, I got to this weight to have fights that really matter, not to face fighters who will just serve as a ladder for me,” said Dos Anjos.

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Asked about the reason why he moved up a category, Rafael claimed that the changes in his body made it impossible for him to reach the lightweight limit. According to the fighter, Ultimate should create more weight divisions.

“My body has changed (Rafael dos Anjos is 32 years old), he holds more water. Anything I eat outside of my diet, the body holds. And just like me, there are other athletes. Therefore, the UFC should create more categories. You have, for example, 135 pounds (up to 61,2 kg), 145 pounds (65,8 kg), 155 (up to 70,3 kg), then only 170 pounds (up to 77,1 kg). There should be other categories in the middle, 10 out of 10. Because weight loss is not healthy at all”, he declared.

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Rafael dos Anjos, 32 years old, has a professional record of 25 wins and nine losses. The Brazilian won the lightweight belt in March 2015, when he beat Anthony Pettis and defended the title against Donald Cerrone, in December of the same year. Rafa was chosen to face Conor McGregor in a superfight, but ended up getting injured and only returned to the octagon in July 2016, when he was surprised by Eddie Alvarez and lost his belt. When Anjos returned, he fought badly again and lost to Tony Ferguson, last November.