On paper, Mark Bocek vs. Rafael dos Anjos looked like a pretty even matchup up. Dos Anjos wasn’t having any of that though, completely dominating Bocek over 15 minutes to take a unanimous decision in their UFC 154 lightweight bout. Bocek couldn’t get Dos Anjos to the floor despite a ton of attempts, and RDA looked very good with some hard strikes and solid grappling. All three judges had it 30-27 for the Brazilian.
A lot of the early work in the bout was against the cage, with both fighters jockeying for position. Bocek worked hard for a takedown that didn’t come, and Dos Anjos landed three nice knees to the body. Dos Anjos landed a few strikes, and stuffed another two takedown attempts. A few strikes rounded out the round for RDA.
The second round began with…a swift kick to the balls. Dos Anjos was obviously in some discomfort, but didn’t take long to restart. Dos Anjos reversed a Bocek takedown attempt and got on top of him against the cage. RDA looked for a kimura in a weird position against the cage. He gave it up, but Bocek ended up with a big cut under his eye. Dos Anjos stuffed yet another takedown attempt and took Bocek’s back, beating him up with punches.
After 90 seconds of grappling against the cage, Bocek almost got a takedown. But he didn’t succeed, and Dos Anjos reversed with a big slam. Bocek looked for a kimura but Rafael easily got away. Bocek tried again for a takedown against the cage, but RDA was just not going down. Dos Anjos started clowning a round a bit late, throwing spinning kicks and wild strikes. It was all RDA no matter what though.
Dos Anjos picked up his third straight win with the victory, and has won seven of his last nine overall. Bocek drops to 7-5 in the UFC with the loss.