Rafael dos Anjos might be in no man’s land.
The former lightweight champion suffered his second loss in a row following his unanimous decision defeat to Michael Chiesa at UFC Raleigh this past weekend.
It also put him at 1-4 in his last five fights. But it’s not like he’s getting outclassed or knocked out in those defeats. After all, he didn’t suffer much damage in his loss to Chiesa, who mainly controlled him on the ground and outgrappled him.
However, he is suffering from being undersized in the welterweight division, especially when his last four losses have come against bigger opponents.
And former teammate Michael Bisping isn’t sure where the Brazilian goes from here.
“It’s a tough one for Dos Anjos because where does he go now?” Bisping said on his podcast. “The problem is for him, he’s too small for welterweight. Yeah, he makes welterweight. In fact, two weeks ago when I was in the gym, he was 185 pounds. So he’s not a small welterweight.
“But he is too small. Look at Kamaru [Usman], look at Chiesa. There’s some big welterweights out there. He’s too big for 155 because making 155 kills him and he did that for a long time and he’s a little undersized at welterweight.
“He’s the perfect candidate for the 165-pound division. But listen, well done to Michael Chiesa. Biggest win of his career. And maybe fighting Colby Covington then.”
Dos Anjos would certainly be a perfect candidate for a 165-pound division. It’s a weight class that many, such as Kevin Lee, Dustin Poirier and Nate Diaz have previously called for as well.
However, UFC president Dana White doesn’t seem to be on board with the idea.
