Here’s all you need to know about the man standing between Conor McGregor and his dreams of becoming a UFC dual champion.
Stats: 31-years-old. His 5′ 9 stature makes him the same height as Conor McGregor, and his 40 inch leg reach also equals the Notorious’. However, McGregor (74 in) holds a three inch reach advantage over the Brazilian (71 in).
Record: 24-7, 14-5 UFC. Five of his wins came by way of knockout, eight were submission victories while 12 went the distance. He’s had one knockout loss, just the solitary submission defeat, albeit he tapped after Clay Guida broke his jaw, and has seen five judges’ decisions go against him.
He made his professional debut on 25 September 2004, dropping a split decision to Adriano Abu under a regional Brazilian promotion.
Gym: Kings MMA, Huntington Beach California.
Notable training partners: UFC heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum, Former UFC light heavyweight champion Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, Former Pride middleweight champion Wanderlei Silva, The Ultimate Fighter 17 winner Kelvin Gastelum and number nine-ranked lightweight (correct at time of writing) Beneil Dariush.
Achievements : 3rd degree black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, “Black belt” in Muay Thai under Rafael Cordeiro’s system.
In BJJ he’s a two-time Brazilian National Bronze Medalist in the brown belt division (2004, 2005), a European Bronze Medal at black belt (2006) and a World Champion in the purple belt division in 2003.
Records: First Brazilian-born lightweight champion in UFC history.
Dos Anjos had 18 UFC fights before winning the belt, which is the longest it’s taken any fighter to claim UFC gold. Welterweight champion Robbie Lawler held the previous record with 14.
His 66-second knockout victory over Donald Cerrone at UFC on Fox 17 marked the fastest stoppage in UFC lightweight title-fight history.
https://twitter.com/fight08/status/678496064283009024
Biggest win: Although he holds impressive first round knockout wins over former champion Benson Henderson and Donald Cerrone, undoubtedly his biggest win came against Anthony Pettis to win the strap.
RDA was an underdog against Showtime and not only usurped his throne, but completely dominated him over five rounds to earn a lopsided decision victory.
His outstanding performance saw him became just the second challenger in UFC history win the title with all three judges scoring it 50-45 in his favour. Randy Couture was the first, achieving the same feat against Tim Sylvia at UFC 68.
Last defeat: Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC on Fox 11, April 19, 2014. The Dagestani improved his pristine record to 22-0 (6-0 UFC) with his dominant decision victory over RDA. However, he has yet to return to the Octagon since defeating the Brazilian due to a string of injuries, including a recurring knee problem.
Other notable losses include the submission to Guida, decision losses to Gleison Tibau and Tyson Griffin and a thunderous knockout defeat to Jeremy Stephens in his promotional debut.
He has a titanium chin… no really!
Guida broke his jaw in the first round of their clash, forcing him to get titanium plates inserted into his jaw. RDA made the outlandish claim to MMA Junkie that it has given him the ability to break hands by eating punches.
“That break happened when we were openly trading during the first minute of our fight. He broke my mandible in two parts, but I kept on fighting.”
“Nowadays, I have 20 screws and four titanium plates. Since then I broke two hands with my chin: (Gleison) Tibau’s and (Anthony) Njokuani’s.”
Respected orthopaedic surgeon Dr Johnny Benjamin subsequently told the site that this perceived ability was “absolute fantasy” and added that the titanium in his face is “measured in millimetres, it’s so small.”
He has the Almighty on his side
Judging by his post-fight interviews, RDA is a devout Christian. The lightweight champion usually thanks the Christian saviour Jesus Christ in his post-fight speeches, and the man himself was even in the crowd for UFC 185.
JC was seen congratulating the dos Anjos as he left the Octagon after he became the undisputed champion of the 155 lb division.
