Issue 135

December 2015

UFC lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos earned his belt the hard way, but after a lifetime of grinding for success he wouldn’t have had it any other way.

Four weeks out from his lightweight championship fight against champion Anthony Pettis at UFC 185 in March, challenger Rafael dos Anjos tore the ligaments on the inside of his right knee. The MCL rupture meant he was unable to wrestle, roll, kick or even run – yet he decided the opportunity he’d worked his entire life for was too big to walk away from. Despite the concerns of his family and physician, faith guided his hand and the perennial underdog left the Octagon in Dallas, Texas, carrying the championship belt after he produced the standout performance of the year.

Patience is a virtue

Dos Anjos’ injury ultimately forced the Brazilian out of action for six months. But now “almost fully healed” and back in fight camp with a familiar foe on the horizon in Donald Cerrone on December 19th, he is looking forward to the challenges that lie ahead. As an athlete, he’s cool, calm, and collected when the bell rings and he’s similarly unperturbed outside the cage. But his quiet persona also means he’s had to do things the hard way.

Next year will be dos Anjos’ 12th as a professional mixed martial artist, yet March’s title chance against Pettis was his first shot at gold despite suffering just one loss in his previous 10 fights. His 24-7 career slate includes 18 trips to the Octagon, yet he’s had to wait patiently for his chance while others, perhaps more vocal, but less deserving athletes, went ahead of him. 

His patience is a virtue that’s often seen ‘RDA’ cast in the role of underdog. But for the new champion at least the smoke and mirrors of prizefighting mean nothing when the cage door slams shut. The 31-year-old knew he’d get his chance eventually. “I just had to keep on winning, and I couldn’t be denied,” he tells FO. And when his chance came, not even that debilitating knee ligament tear was going to stop him.

“Even during the open workouts the week of the fight for Pettis, I wasn’t able to put much weight on the knee. My knee was about 50–60% at that time and I wasn’t doing any jiu-jitsu, wrestling or even throwing kicks,” he reveals.

“Sparring was definitely out for at least four weeks before the fight and I wasn’t even able to run. It was bad. But I knew – despite the pain – I knew the belt was leaving Texas with me. I knew because of all the work I had done my entire life that I was going to be able to take the belt home.”

Miracle man

The challenger was a four-to-one underdog and weakened by a serious injury, yet he completely dominated ‘Showtime’ from the first bell until the last to earn a shut-out 50-45 decision across all three judges’ scorecards.

It was a performance that sent shockwaves through the division. How had the unheralded Brazilian pretender to the throne managed to out-strike the reigning poster boy of the 155lb weight class? Dos Anjos was too fast, too slick and too quick for Pettis. He beat mixed martial arts’ most dangerous striker at his own game. Yet while fans, fighters and experts scratched their heads, RDA’s team at Kings MMA took it all in their stride.

“The fans were surprised at how effective the game plan was, but me and my coach, we were not surprised at all because we knew how hard I worked,” dos Anjos says. “I went into that fight to take the belt away from him and to bring the belt home. What the people got to see in that fight was just what we worked hard for. All the hard work paid off. 

“There was nothing I could do about the knee – except pray. But even in the warm-up, backstage, right before the fight, I was feeling it. It was on my mind but I couldn’t let it become my only focus. It had to be put out of my mind. Then, a miracle: when the fight started the pain went away. It was gone. I believe it was God’s plan for me to take my belt home that night.”

Dos Anjos admits there were moments when he considered withdrawing from the fight, but divine intervention played a part there too. “None of my team said anything to me about that, but they were probably thinking it. But it’s on me to make that decision only. 

“Master Rafael Cordeiro, my head coach, and Master (Roberto) ‘Gordo’ Correa, my jiu-jitsu coach, always tell me to listen to my body and it did cross my mind that I might have to pull out of the fight. But I prayed and asked God for his guidance and he told me to go there and I would win the title, so that was it for me. The decision was made. I knew then that I would win if I fought, and that’s what inspired me.”

The rematch

While the injury was still in recovery, the Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt’s next opponent was already in view. Donald Cerrone has waited patiently for his own chance at the UFC belt since May. He’s riding an eight-fight win streak, a run that began after an August 2013 defeat to the current champ. The rematch will be ‘Cowboy’s first shot at Octagon gold, and despite dos Anjos winning their first encounter via a dominant unanimous decision, he’s well aware of the threat posed by the fan-favorite.

 “Cowboy is a tough opponent, but I will make sure I get to that fight in far better shape than I was against Anthony Pettis and I’ll keep my belt,” dos Anjos states. “It wasn’t easy to capture my belt and it’s going to be much, much harder again for someone to take this away from me. I’m getting ready for a war. 

“I’m getting ready for a better Cowboy than ever before. I beat him before and won this belt training the way I am now so nothing will be done differently. We’ve both gotten better since the last time we fought and we’ve both evolved a lot. I just believe I’ve evolved more. And as the belt holder, I just have to go out there and prove I’m the best once again.”

Back at UFC Fight Night 27, the rivals’ first fight is perhaps best remembered for the way in which dos Anjos took Cerrone out of his game in the first two rounds. Cowboy, famed for his lethal Muay Thai striking, couldn’t get into a rhythm and deliver offense with his usual verve. Instead, RDA found success with kicks of his own and repeatedly moved into boxing range – stifling his opponent and even dropping him with a clean right hand. He admits his game plan was designed to break Cerrone’s focus.

“Yes, well I always do that, try and beat my opponent with their strongest weapon,” he says. “Also, I don’t ever fight in the Octagon to go the distance. I want to hurt my opponents and get them out of there early if I can. Sometimes I can finish and sometimes not, but I always throw hard to finish the fight and that’s exactly what I will be doing in the next fight also. I won’t leave this in the judges’ hands and I will be going to fight hard. I want to show him and the world exactly why I am the lightweight champion.”

Bigger and better

As for 2016 and beyond, RDA is astute in not being too quick to look past the challenge ahead in December. But he reveals his career will likely include a change in weight class at some point.

“Right now my only focus is on Donald Cerrone on December 19th and whoever else comes after that I’ll be ready for them,” he says “I believe 155lb is the best division in the UFC and so I have to be ready to fight anybody, and I’ll make sure that I am ready. I don’t prefer anybody because in my mind I will have to beat them all to keep the belt for the longest time.

“But I also want to fight at 170lb one day. I am 31 years old, so when I start getting tired of losing the weight and it gets too hard to make 155lb, perhaps after a few defenses of my title, then I’ll go up to fight at 170lb because I feel I’m big enough to do it.”

Finally, any predictions for his first defense? “My priority as always is to win the fight. Whatever I have to do to win it, I will win it. As I said earlier, I never enter the Octagon expecting the fight to go to the judges, I want the finish and I try my best to find the opportunity to make that happen. I just hope Cowboy is going to be ready for the toughest night of his career, because I’m now much better than the last time we fought. I am the champion.”

Warrior spirit: It’s nothing personal 

Dos Anjos admits when he gets hit in a fight it flicks a switch in his mind to fight harder – even though he probably wishes it didn’t. “When I get hit it makes me angry, it helps me to fight harder, I guess. Although I don’t like to admit to this. 

“I’m going in there trying not to get hit so when you do take a punch or a kick it forces you to fight back harder, because you want to stop that person from hitting you by hurting them. 

“If someone kicks me my instinct is to kick them harder. That’s just the way it works. But it’s not personal, it’s just the sport.”

BJJ-free zone: Who needs submissions?

Dos Anjos has just two wins via submission from 19 UFC fights, despite being a third-degree black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. He hasn’t tapped anybody since his first-round rear-naked choke against Kamal Shalorus in May 2012. So, does he feel pressured by a lack of submissions? 

“Not at all,” he insists. “I enter every fight just to win. If an opportunity presents itself for a submission then I will, just like if I get the opportunity to knock the guy out. But I don’t allow any kind of pressure to submit or knock out anybody. There is no room in my mind for thoughts like this.”

Welcome to 155 pounds: It’s all about respect

With both current UFC featherweight champions, José Aldo and Conor McGregor, speaking about moving up to lightweight recently, Rafael dos Anjos says he’s more than happy to host a welcome-to-the-weight-class party – especially if it’s the outspoken Irishman coming up 10lb.

RDA says: “First, I believe Aldo wins their fight in November and then if he decided he wanted to move up and wanted to fight for the title then I would oblige him. But it’s not a fight I’m looking for. It doesn’t make sense in my mind for him to move up. 

“Aldo is the king of his division and he should stay there. But if he does come up, then this is my division. But he’s not a fighter on my radar. I have plenty of lightweights to take care of already.”

McGregor on the other hand is a more appealing proposition. “This is a fight I would definitely like to take. I’d love to welcome him to the division. He talks too much, and it’s not the Brazilian way. It’s not really the way of any martial artist I know. 

“When you first walk into any gym, anywhere, you are taught to respect everybody. That’s the biggest thing: respect. But he has none. And so I’m looking forward to José teaching him some of that when they fight. In fact, I’m sure he will.”

Family values: Champion at home

“I’ve always had incredible support from my family,” says dos Anjos after stepping out of the swimming pool at his home near Torrence, California, where he lives with wife Cristiane and sons Gustavo and Rafael. “Even when I moved to the US I had their full support, and when I lose fights they are always the first ones to call me and pick me up again. That’s what family is for. 

“My kids and my wife are now enjoying having a champion at home too. But this is just the beginning. Now that I have the belt it’s not time to rest, it’s time to work harder than ever before, that’s how you remain as the champion.”