LAS VEGAS – It looks like welterweight will be the home for the remainder of [autotag]Rafael dos Anjos[/autotag]’s MMA career, but with an exception.
Dos Anjos, former UFC lightweight champion, is moving back up to 170 pounds to take on longtime contender Vicente Luque in the main event of Saturday’s UFC on ESPN 51. This bout is not just a one off, but a firm move back to welterweight for dos Anjos.
“For me to compete at lightweight, it’s pretty hard,” dos Anjos said at Thursday’s media day. “I’ll be 39 in October, and I feel good at welterweight. I fought in this division before. I fought for the title in the division. I went to the distance with the champion, and yeah, I decided to make the move up and that’s the way I’m going to be fighting.”
Dos Anjos knows the clock is ticking in terms of his fighting career. That’s why a move to welterweight makes sense. He believes not going through a big weight cut will extend his fighting days.
However, if something big and lucrative is offered at 155 pounds, Dos Anjos could see himself back down only under those conditions.
“If I have a fight, like a superfight that I’m going to make a very good amount of money,” dos Anjos said. “I see that after this fight, I still have six more under my contract. I could tell you that if it was a lightweight fight, I could fight three more times, four more times to be honest with you. It’s just too hard on my body. I think at welterweight I can go longer and extend my career more.”
Dos Anjos (32-14 MMA, 21-12 UFC) hopes to fight again for a UFC title in what’s left of his fighting career. He knows it’s tough to get those kinds of opportunities, but he also knows a win over Luque (21-9-1 MMA, 14-5 UFC) could open up doors.
“Back in the day, everyone fought everyone and whoever kept winning would eventually fight for the title,” dos Anjos said. “My goal now is to keep winning my fights. Being a former world champion, I know the way for the belt is shorter. I remember back in 2017, when I moved up the first time and I fought Tarec Saffiedine in Singapore, by the time I got home I said man I’m way behind in the rankings. I’ll never probably fight for the title for this division. UFC called me, ‘Hey, Damain Maia doesn’t want to take the fight with Tyron Woodley. Would you take it?’ So that’s how this game works. So beating Vicente now, everything can happen. Somebody can get hurt, you don’t know how this game changes.”
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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 51.