Sherdog.com’s 2015 Fighter of the Year

2. Rafael dos Anjos

The UFC lightweight belt has always been a fickle mistress.

Since Jens Pulver first laid claim to it in 2001, no one has been able to string together a sizable run of title defenses. The likes of B.J. Penn, Frankie Edgar and Benson Henderson have all managed to win the belt and defend it three times, but that elusive fourth defense has been the scourge of lightweight greats since the division was resuscitated in 2006. The UFC lightweight division has been an absolute shark tank of talent and parity for nearly a decade.

At the end of 2014, a great deal of hype and excitement surrounded one lightweight fighter, a man who was hailed as the next great lightweight and MMA’s next superstar: Anthony Pettis. The offensive wunderkind had seemed to bounce back from an out-of-character loss in his promotional debut. He had won five fights in a row, four of which were devastating and spectacular finishes. Pettis snatched the crown within a single round from Henderson with an armbar and defended it against the perennial top contender Gilbert Melendez in equally slick fashion with a guillotine choke. It was the first time either of them had been submitted in major MMA promotions; not bad for a highly decorated kickboxing prodigy.

Meanwhile, dos Anjos was clocking in and going to work with little fanfare. After starting off his UFC career with a mediocre 4-4 record between 2008 and 2011 -- a stint that saw him get finished as much as he was able to finish his opponents -- dos Anjos came roaring back. From 2012 to 2014, the Kings MMA representative went 8-1, including a memorable 2014 in which he knocked out former champion Henderson and closed out the year with a dominant win over former title challenger Nate Diaz. Still, dos Anjos was a bit of a hidden gem in the lightweight waters, especially compared to the breakout stardom of Pettis.

The funny thing: dos Anjos was not even supposed to fight for the belt when he did. Pettis was set to defend his title against the bear-wrestling Dagestani destroyer Khabib Nurmagomedov, but a knee injury opened up the opportunity for dos Anjos to fight the newfound face of Wheaties. The match was set for UFC 185, and when the betting lines came out, they all painted dos Anjos as the heavy underdog. Everyone expected Pettis to make quick work of his soft-spoken foe and come one step closer to becoming an all-time lightweight great. Dos Anjos did not buy into that narrative.

Instead, he completely demolished Pettis over the course of five rounds. “Showtime” was a nonfactor from the jump, as dos Anjos used his size, durability and power to pressure Pettis for the entirety of 25 minutes. He Big Brother-style outgrappled him against the fence en route to claiming the lightweight title. It was a monumental upset and one that left no doubt as to who the rightful king of the lightweights was. After toiling in relative obscurity for seven years in the UFC, everyone knew the name Rafael dos Anjos.

Nine months later, dos Anjos would defend his title against the surging Donald Cerrone in 66 seconds, setting the record for fastest lightweight title win in the history of the UFC. It was also the fastest anybody has ever beaten Cerrone. Going into 2016, dos Anjos is now exactly where Pettis was last year, with one dominant performance to claim the title and another one to defend it. It is only right that we extend the same courtesy we did to Pettis then and start to talk about dos Anjos as a potential all-time talent.

Continue Reading » Joanna Jedrzejczyk