When Rafael dos Anjos made the decision to leave the 155-pound weight class and move up to the 170-pound division, it breathed new life into his career.
It also potentially saved his life.
Dos Anjos lost his UFC lightweight title when he was knocked out by Eddie Alvarez in July 2016. The day prior to losing his belt, however, the 32-year-old fainted while sitting in a hot tub as he was cutting weight. Dos Anjos explained on The MMA Hour earlier this year that when he fainted his coaches pulled him from the tub and moved him to the bed. Dos Anjos was unconscious for approximately three minutes and woke up when his coaches put ice on his chest.
Now competing in the welterweight division, dos Anjos doesn’t have to worry as much about shedding pounds and endangering his health before stepping into the Octagon.
“I feel way better. I can have a life,” dos Anjos told Sportsnet MMA contributor James Lynch. “I still have to cut some weight, some people don’t realize that. Some people think I’m lazy and don’t want to cut weight but I felt like I got close to death. I don’t want to die. I want to have pleasure in my job and what I’m doing and I want to have good health.
“I feel great, I feel fresh, I feel that I can [focus] 100 per cent on my work [instead of watching my weight] and just enjoy the process.”
After beating ranked contenders Tarec Saffiedine and Neil Magny in his first two welterweight contests, dos Anjos is set to face former welterweight champion Robbie Lawler in December and is one win away from earning a chance to join an elite club.
UFC president Dana White said during a recent press tour that the winner of Lawler versus dos Anjos, which headlines the UFC’s return to Winnipeg, will get the next shot at current welterweight champion Tyron Woodley.
That means if dos Anjos gets by Lawler he could potentially become a two-weight champion. Randy Couture, B.J. Penn and Conor McGregor are the only fighters that have accomplished it thus far. Georges St-Pierre has the chance to become the fourth when he challenges Michael Bisping for the middleweight strap at UFC 217 in November and Frankie Edgar, another former lightweight champ, could do so when he meets featherweight champ Max Holloway at UFC 218.
For what it’s worth, dos Anjos has been training with Bisping and believes the Brit will defend his title against the Canadian superstar at Madison Square Garden.
“I’m a big fan of Georges St-Pierre but I think he’s been out for so long and I think Bisping has been around and been more active,” dos Anjos said. “That’s going to make the difference.”
While dos Anjos believes he has what it takes to become a two-weight champion, he isn’t getting ahead of himself. Lawler is the only things on his mind.
“Two former champions fighting each other for the chance at a title. It doesn’t get better than that,” dos Anjos added. “Even when I was the lightweight champion Robbie was a guy that I was looking [at]. We were champs at the same time and I was already thinking about moving up [a division] and he was a guy I was thinking about doing a superfight with, but unfortunately I lost my belt, he lost the belt but now we’re going to meet Dec. 16.”
UFC Winnipeg takes place at Bell MTS Place. Here is a look at the fight card to date:
MAIN CARD
— Robbie Lawler vs. Rafael dos Anjos
— Jose Aldo vs. Ricardo Lamas
— Santiago Ponzinibbio vs. Mike Perry
— Glover Teixeira vs. Misha Cirkunov
PRELIMINARY CARD
— Antonio Rogerio Nogueira vs. Jared Cannonier
— Vitor Miranda vs. Julian Marquez
— Chad Laprise vs. Galore Bafondo
— Tim Elliott vs. Justin Scoggins
— Alessio Di Chirico vs. Oluwale Bamgbose
— Jordan Mein vs. Erick Silva
— Nordine Taleb vs. Sultan Aliev
— John Makdessi vs. Abel Trujillo
You can follow James Lynch on Twitter @LynchOnSports and subscribe to his YouTube page.
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