RDA Still Wants To Be Champion, Eying Abu Dhabi Card

Rafael dos Anjos proved he was still a very serious contender in the UFC’s welterweight division on Saturday night.

The Brazilian was impressive in the main event of UFC Rochester as he submitted Kevin Lee with an arm-triangle choke in the fourth round.

It snapped a two-fight losing run following losses to Colby Covington and current champion Kamaru Usman. Both of those fighters happen to be slated to face each other for the title too.

Despite his setbacks against them, “RDA” still hopes to become a two-division champion, and will remain ready in the future if he needs to step up on short notice.

“Yeah, I think it’s a matter of opportunity,” Dos Anjos told reporters backstage after the fight. “If the opportunity presents itself, I’ll be ready.

“I’m always ready. I always keep the water warm — when it’s time to boil, it’s easy. I never let my body get cold and totally on off-season. I’m always running, always doing something. If the opportunity presents itself, I’ll take it.”

2019 Plans

For now, no welterweight title showdown is scheduled yet and Dos Anjos has certainly earned some rest.

However, he plans to fight at least one more time this year, if not twice. He is targeting the UFC 242 card which takes place September 7 in Abu Dhabi.

“Yeah, I see this Abu Dhabi card, it’ll be something nice,” he added. “I fought in Abu Dhabi in 2010 or 2012. The one Renzo Gracie fought Matt Hughes [at UFC 112].

“That’ll be a good card, I would love to fight overseas too. We’ll see. Lot of shows coming up. But definitely, I want to fight one or two more times this year.”

UFC 242 is expected to be headlined by a lightweight title unification showdown between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Dustin Poirier.