Rafael dos Anjos: Rematch with Khabib would be different than first fight
Rafael dos Anjos may be the new UFC lightweight champion after his stunning upset of Anthony Pettis at UFC 185, last week, but he's still got a recent loss looming over him. "I still have that loss against Khabib," he recently told MMAFighting.
Eleven months ago, undefeated contender Khabib Nurmagomedov beat the Brazilian by decision. The Russian has a May fight against the surging Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone coming up in May.
Dos Anjos knows that Khabib is a tough fight for anyone at 155 pounds because of his excellent wrestling skill, but looks forward to the chance to avenge his loss against the trash-talking grappler. If Nurmagomedov gets past Cerrone and earns a crack at dos Anjos for the UFC belt, the black belt believes that the contest will go much differently than their first meeting.
"Khabib has a tough fight, Cerrone is a tough opponent. I don't know how it's gonna be to come back from a bad injury and fight against him, but we'll see. If he beats Cerrone, OK, I'll fight. I don't have any preference. I'll be ready for any one of them," he said.
"I lost to him and I would like to get it cleared...It's another time, now. Everything changed. The next fight will be a different fight."
For his part, Nurmagomedov hasn't fought since that win over dos Anjos. Including that fight, Dos Anjos has fought five times in the past 11 months, and said he is looking forward to some time off.
Khabib has continued his smack talk against Cerrone, and even against Pettis. The 26-year-old couldn't resist kicking the former champ while he is down, recently. Nurmagomedov slammed "Showtime" to MMA Fighting, also saying, "I told you he's no true champion."
"I told you before, Rafael dos Anjos can beat him, I can beat him, and a lot of fighters can beat him. But all the time, [UFC president] Dana White say he's pound-for-pound king, he's one of the greatest. His coaches say he's [Floyd] Mayweather in MMA. I think it's joke, you understand? Now everybody understands who is who. Rafael dos Anjos, I, and 'Cowboy,' and Michael Johnson - these guys are top four in lightweight division. Now Anthony Pettis go to the prelims."
Pettis being relegated to undercards because of one title loss is, of course, unlikely. No doubt Khabib Nurmagomedov is right under a rematch with Rafael dos Anjos on the ex-champ's list of fights he'd like soon upon his return.
One thing is certain, the lightweight division has amazing parity and fantastic top contenders. Only time will tell if Nurmagomedov is the next top challenger.
