Champ Rafael dos Anjos believes he is finally getting the respect he deserves

Bloody Elbow 2.0 | Anton Tabuena

Last year, Rafael dos Anjos knocked out Ben Henderson to announce himself as a legitimate contender in the UFC”s lightweight division. However, even with that inspired victory notched under his belt, few gave dos Anjos a chance when he challenged rising star Anthony Pettis for the title. That was until his dominant five-round thrashing of the champion took place back at UFC 185.

Speaking to MMAFighting.com, Dos Anjos explained that he finally believes he is getting the respect that he deserves.

“I get noticed by the fans. Finally, I’m getting the respect that I deserve. Things change around me but not on my mind.I’m training hard and want to defend this belt for a long time.”

Dos Anjos also revealed that he would be fit to return to fighting in December.

“I’m still not cleared to train yet. Once I’m cleared, I need four months to get ready for the fight. I could do this in three months but I never hurt my knee in my whole life and I’ve never stayed three months without training.”

Check out the entire interview above.

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About the author

Karim Zidan

Karim Zidan is a investigative reporter and feature writer focusing on the intersection of sports and politics. He has written for BloodyElbow since 2014 and has served as an associate editor since 2016. He also writes for The New York Times and The Guardian. Karim has been invited to speak about his work at numerous universities, including Princeton, and was a panelist at the South by Southwest (SXSW) film festival and the Oslo Freedom Forum. He also participated in the United Nations counter-terrorism conference in 2021. His reporting on Ramzan Kadyrov’s involvement in MMA, much of which was done for Bloody Elbow, has led to numerous award nominations, and was the basis of an award-winning HBO Real Sports documentary.