Former UFC lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos has seemingly made his mind up regarding which weight class he is going to compete in moving forward.
The entirety of Rafael dos Anjos‘ UFC success has come at lightweight, where he won the title back in 2015.
Despite that, over the last few years, the Brazilian has fluctuated between lightweight and welterweight, not sticking to one weight class consistently, which has resulted in his gradual demise.
The 39-year-old has lost his last two fights – his last being against Mateusz Gamrot at 155lbs, and his fight before that being against Vicente Luque at 170lbs.
Rafael dos Anjos demands removal from the lightweight rankings
Although the Brazilian hasn’t picked up a win at lightweight since his split decision victory over Paul Felder back in 2020 – his 2022 victory over Renato Moicano was a 160lb catchweight bout – he is still ranked.
RDA currently sits at rank 14 in the lightweight division, and it is resulting in 155lb fighters just outside of the top 15 calling him out at every opportunity.
Dos Anjos, though, seems to have finally made his decision regarding his weight class and has demanded the UFC remove him from the 155lb rankings.
“Get me out of the LW rankings. For you LWs out there calling me out, I won’t compete at LW from now on. I have nothing to prove to nobody, I walk around at 195(lbs) at 39 years old.
“There’s lots of fights that make sense for me at 170lbs. I want to fight in July, get me back in that Octagon.” dos Anjos explained on X.
So far for July, only UFC 304 has been announced, which takes place from the Co-op Arena Live in Manchester, England.
Rafael Dos Anjos is not interested in Colby Covington rematch
As part of Dos Anjos’ announcement, he was asked by one fan whether he’d be interested in a rematch with Colby Covington.
The two met inside the Octagon in 2018, when ‘Chaos’ Covington picked up the unanimous decision victory, winning the interim welterweight title.
The 39-year-old is not interested in a rematch with Covington though, stating, “Now he’s too old.”
Although RDA is unlikely to climb his way back up the welterweight rankings, there are a few matchups at 170lbs that could make sense for the former UFC champion.
One of which is a rematch against Neil Magny. Dos Anjos submitted Magny in round one of their welterweight fight in 2017, and although Magny has taken on the title of ‘welterweight gatekeeper’, it could make sense for both fighters.