Rafael Dos Anjos: I Will Submit Alvarez

In recent years, reigning UFC lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos has upped his game by adding a more well-rounded striking arsenal to his already established world class ground game.

Dos Anjos used this new and improved striking to knockout former champion Benson Henderson, and batter and bloody another former champion in Anthony Pettis on his quest to the title.

The Brazilian most recently scored a quick finish over Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone via strikes as well in his first title defense last December.

Now, dos Anjos will once again put his title on the line against former Bellator champion Eddie Alvarez live on UFC Fight Pass on July 7, 2016.

Despite his obvious improvements in the striking department, the champion will always be confident in his grappling, and he plans to use these skills in his upcoming bout:

“I miss submitting people,” he recently told UFC.com. “”I have a lot of confidence in my jiu-jitsu. I believe he will try to put me down, so we’ll see what happens on the ground. I’ve been putting a lot of work on my grappling, and I believe I can submit him.”

Alvarez worked his way to a UFC title shot with two consecutive victories, most recently defeating Pettis by way of decision last January in a bout where he controlled much of the action with his wrestling.

RDA expects Alvarez to wrestle him as well, but feels as if his superior jiu-jitsu skills will make the difference:

“He spent three rounds all over Pettis. I believe he’ll try something similar with me,” he continued. “But, I believe I’m more well-rounded. My grappling is better. I’m taller. … I’m very motivated. All these [things] will help me get this win.”

As far as the champion’s health goes, he is indeed coming off of an injury. In fact, he was forced to pull out of a highly anticipated title fight with 145-pound title holder Conor McGregor last month, but it appears as if he’s already gotten back to training:

“I’m already back at work,” he said. “The bone is almost healed, but some tendons are still sore. I’ve been doing some grappling, not with full power but I can’t stand being away.”

How do you see dos Anjos vs. Alvarez playing out this summer?