UFC 185: Anthony Pettis vs. Rafael Dos Anjos Fight Preview

UFC 185 hits us this weekend (Saturday March 14th, 2015) with the light weight title on the line in the main event. It’s Anthony Pettis vs Rafael Dos Anjos for all the marbles, and there is much to be said about both challenger and champion. Will it be the high calibre striking and evolved submissions of “Showtime”, or the top notch grappling and vastly improved stand up of RDA?

Without further ado, the UFC 185 Anthony Pettis vs Rafael Dos Anjos fight breakdown:

Striking:

What can you say about the striking of Pettis that hasn’t already been said? Third degree black belt in TKD, black belt in kickboxing and a yellow belt in Capoeira; “Showtime” has it all and lives up to his nickname. From his WEC day to present, the acrobatic and diverse striking game of Pettis has dazzled us all. His stength is no doubt in his kicks, having used them to ground Donald Cerrone, Joe Lauzon, Benson Henderson, Danny Castillo and many more. Seven knockouts from 18 wins, 44% striking accuracy.

Dos Anjos has brought his striking arsenal ahead light years from his UFC debut. Most recently he has outboxed Nate Diaz and blasted Benson Henderson in the first round of their bout. Only four knockouts from 23 wins, but rest assured his stand up has become very dangerous. 39% striking accuracy. The truth is that Pettis is simply on another level, he is deadly from any range, 70-30 to the champion

Submissions:

Here is the challenger’s bread and butter, a black belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu under Aldo “Caveirinha” Januário, Dos Anjos would love to get hold of the throat of the champion and finish the fight. Eight submission wins from 23 overall, although only two have been while under the Zuffa banner. Loves to pass the guard with an average of one pass per 30 successful takedowns from 77 attempted (39%).

Don’t sleep on Pettis’ ground game, this kid has become a wizard on the mat. His last two wins were both submissions against grapplers who were better on paper. With such a strong submission game, and off his back at that, the champion can afford to give up takedowns, ergo he uses more creative ways to deliver power strikes. In my book, Pettis has been more active and precise with his submission game, and also holds an average of one pass per takedown. You may not agree, but I’m calling it 50-50

Takedowns:

Dos Anjos is by far the more active in this department, with 30 takedowns from 77 in the UFC. It quite often amounts to a smothering round of heavy ground and pound for his opponent, as the Brazilian is very powerful when using top control. 65% of his opponents takedowns are stuffed, making RDA a tough fighter to wrestle with.

Pettis’ only weakness when he joined the UFC was his wrestling, as masterfully exposed by Clay Guida. This is now a thing of the past, with Pettis scoring 10 of 13 attempted takedowns since, with a whopping 77% success ratio. He may not stay there for long, but the champion now has an offensive and defensive takedown arsenal. 69% stuffed during his UFC career, talk about making your strengths out of your weaknesses. 50-50 again

So this fight is all about evolution; the grappler turned striker and visa-versa, but who is better? Stay tuned to LowKickMMA during this fight week, and prepare yourselves for the awesomeness of Anthony Pettis vs Rafael Dos Anjos!