Rafael dos Anjos Makes His Case For A Lightweight Title Shot

Rafael dos Anjos would like his next fight to be for the UFC undisputed lightweight championship.

It has been over four years since Rafael dos Anjos was the UFC lightweight champion. Since losing the title, dos Anjos has had his ups and downs with an overall record of 5-5. Dos Anjos has competed against elite opponents and two different weight classes during this time and is now back in the top-10 of the lightweight division after defeating Paul Felder last November.

Rafael dos Anjos Gives Argument for Title Shot

With current champion Khabib Nurmagomedov retired, the promotion will eventually need to make some decisions about what’s next for the division and who will be competing for the soon-to-be vacated title. So former champion Rafael dos Anjos is going ahead and throwing his hat in the ring.

“Of course, I want to fight for the title,” dos Anjos told MMA Junkie in a recent interview. “So if that title’s vacant, since the champion retired, I was the last guy, me and Conor. We were the last guys to have the real belt. All the other guys, they were all interim champion. We were the real champions.

“So being a real champion, like linear champion, I think, man, the fight with Dustin would make sense. I know there’s some guys ahead of me in the rankings, but whatever. I’ll be ready. I’ll make sure I’m ready if something happens, somebody gets hurt, I’ll make sure I get my body ready, and be ready to go, and take on any opportunity that appears to me.”

Rafael dos Anjos is currently ranked #7 in the division. With names like Dustin Poirier, Charles Oliveira, and even newcomer Michael Chandler out there, it will no doubt be a very tough sell for dos Anjos to position himself for a title shot next. He certainly makes a creative if not compelling argument on his own behalf, though, so we’ll see if it resonates with the UFC brass at all.

Do you think Rafael dos Anjos has any legitimate case for a world title shot next?