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Former champion Rafael dos Anjos announces move to welterweight

Published Jan. 6, 2017 4:10 p.m. ET

Damon Martin

Former lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos is finished putting his body through the rigorous cuts to get down to 155-pounds.

On Friday, dos Anjos announced on Twitter that's he is officially moving from lightweight to welterweight for his next fight in the UFC.

"I reached the top of (lightweight), it's been a hard journey make weight every time," dos Anjos wrote. "Now I want to fight at my best. I have new goals, I'm moving to (welterweight)."

https://twitter.com/RdosAnjosMMA/status/817448579140698112

Over the past few years, dos Anjos has been one of the most dominant fighters in the world at 155-pounds including his run as lightweight champion where he took the title from Anthony Pettis before defending it against Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone with a vicious first round TKO.

Since that win, dos Anjos has fallen on harder times with an injury that kept him out of a huge showdown with Conor McGregor at UFC 196 before dropping the title to Eddie Alvarez last July.

Dos Anjos then returned in November where he lost a unanimous decision to Tony Ferguson, which is the first time he's lost back-to-back fights since falling to Jeremy Stephens and Tyson Griffin early in his UFC career.

Dos Anjos has hinted as a move to welterweight before due to the extreme weight cut he goes through to get down to 155 pounds.

Now it appears the former lightweight champion is ready to make a move for his career that will be far less taxing on his body as dos Anjos enters the fray at 170 pounds in 2017.

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