Rafael dos Anjos came into UFC Fight Night 49 as the underdog. People were already speculating if Benson Henderson should fight the winner of Anthony Pettis and Gilbert Melendez, simply counting out the Brazilian. dos Anjos proved the critics wrong with a knockout victory over Henderson at 2:31 of the first round, demonstrating that he is a legitimate title challenger.
dos Anjos is only on a two-fight winning streak as the #5 lightweight and recently tasted defeat to #3 ranked Khabib Nurmagomedov, but beat #4 Donald Cerrone before that. Cerrone is going to face Bellator Champion Eddie Alvarez in a high profile match up in September and Nurmagomedov is currently out with a knee injury. It will be interesting to see what the UFC will do to determine a #1 contender and if dos Anjos will have to face the winner of Cerrone/Alvarez or if he did enough knocking out #1 ranked Henderson.
Gilbert Melendez will most likely be ranked #1 now and it is possible that dos Anjos will get the #2 spot because Nurmagomedov has been out of action since April. Various media rankings and voting determine the UFC rankings, and it seems that Dana White influences them by mentioning certain fighters in press conferences and that the media favors certain fighters. Josh Thomson is somehow still ranked #6 and he has lost 4 out of his 6 last fights. Knocking out Nate Diaz has somehow solidified his spot and the fact that he has only lost to high-ranked fighters as of late.
dos Anjos has proved that he is just as threatening on the feet as he is on the ground as his last two victories have come by knockout. Under Rafael Cordero, dos Anjos has became a force in the division with his striking and it is certain that he would love to face the winner of Pettis/Melenez after taking out the #1 contender.
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