Former UFC lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos seems to concede that his time contending for world titles has come to an end.
The 37-year-old dos Anjos most recently fell to Rafael Fiziev via knockout in July following a dominant win over Renato Moicano at UFC 272. Despite wins in two of his last three fights, dos Anjos is arguably years past his physical prime when he once held the lightweight title.
dos Anjos still wants to compete in the UFC but accepts that another title run isn’t on the table. While older fighters such as Glover Teixeira have gone on to win titles in their 40s, dos Anjos feels the time is now to re-focus on what motivates him to fight.
Rafael dos Anjos No Longer Competing For Belts
In a recent tweet, dos Anjos outlined what he wants for the remainder of his UFC career.
“I had my last title run…and now it is time to fight people that motivates me to wake up and train,” dos Anjos tweeted. “I have almost eight hours of octagon time…get me a veteran for a change! I would love to fight guys like Jim Miller, Jorge Masvidal or get my rematch with Tony Ferguson or Guida.”
After losing his lightweight title to Eddie Alvarez in July 2016, dos Anjos went on to lose to former UFC interim lightweight champion Tony Ferguson later that year. He then made the move to welterweight and picked up consecutive wins over Robbie Lawler, Neil Magny, and Tarec Saffiedine.
dos Anjos lost back-to-back fights to Colby Covington and Kamaru Usman before bouncing back against Kevin Lee. He hasn’t been able to replicate the same rate of success that he had earlier in his career in the Octagon.
dos Anjos has some business left to take care of before he rides into the sunset, and he wants to face a fellow veteran that forces him to push hard in the gym and work towards a triumphant return.
Who do you want Rafael dos Anjos to fight out of the veterans he listed?