RAFAEL DOS ANJOS believes he did enough last night to warrant a shot at Tyron Woodley’s welterweight title.
The 33-year-old Brazilian (28-9), who was the lightweight champion as recently as 2015, moved up in weight earlier this year on the back of defeats to Eddie Alvarez and Tony Ferguson.
In Winnipeg, he put in a dominant performance against former champion Robbie Lawler (28-12) in the main event — winning by unanimous decision to make it three on the bounce since his switch to 170 pounds.
All three judges scored it 50-45 after five rounds and Dos Anjos has now set his sights on a match-up with Woodley.
“I’ve been on the game for so long and tonight this was a pleasure fighting a guy like Robbie,” Dos Anjos said. “He’s a warrior, man. My hands are hurting, he’s got a tough head.”
“I just beat the toughest guy in the division and I think I deserve it because of my history, being 10 years in the UFC already. I think I did enough tonight to get that title shot and I’m sure I’ll get that belt.”
Earlier in the evening, Josh Emmett forced himself into the reckoning as a featherweight contender with a devastating first-round TKO of Ricardo Lamas. That bout was fought at a catchweight 148.5 pounds, however, as Emmett missed weight.
OH MY GOODNESS LEFT HOOK 😦
— UFC on BT Sport (@btsportufc) December 17, 2017
Josh Emmett cleans up Ricardo Lamas! #UFCWinnipeg pic.twitter.com/Zp8EogQueV
The Fight of the Night went to middleweights Julian Marquez and Darren Stewart, while Canadian welterweight Nordine Taleb won Performance of the Night after stopping Danny Roberts in the first round.
UFC on Fox: Lawler v Dos Anjos results:
- Rafael dos Anjos def. Robbie Lawler via unanimous decision (50-45, 50-45, 50-45)
- Josh Emmett def. Ricardo Lamas via first-round TKO (punches)
- Santiago Ponzinibbio def. Mike Perry via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Glover Teixeira def. Misha Cirkunov via first-round TKO (punches)
Undercard
- Jan Błachowicz def. Jared Cannonier via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Julian Marquez def. Darren Stewart via second-round submission (guillotine choke)
- Chad Laprise def. Galore Bofando via first-round TKO (punches)
- Nordine Taleb def. Danny Roberts via first-round TKO (head kick and punches)
- John Makdessi def. Abel Trujillo via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Alessio Di Chirico def. Oluwale Bamgbose via second-round TKO (knee)
Preliminary Card
- Jordan Mein def. Erick Silva via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 30-27)
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