Dos Anjos Looks To Complete Historic Achievement Vs Covington

You can count on one hand the number of UFC fighters who have won championships in two divisions but there may be one more added to that exclusive group at UFC 225 on June 9. Rafael dos Anjos, who previously held the lightweight championship, will take on Colby Covington for the interim welterweight championship this Saturday. If RDA claims the gold, he will become just the fifth fighter in UFC history to hold gold in two weight classes.

Since moving up to the welterweight division, dos Anjos is 3-0 with victories over Robbie Lawler, Neil Magny and Tarec Saffiedine. Dos Anjos’ pressure has always been the key to his game – working behind an unending barrage of jabs and kicks. The former 155-pound champion’s true top skill is his submission abilities, as he owns a third-degree black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu.

Keeping a level head will be incredibly important for dos Anjos in this bout. Covington has made several offensive comments about Brazilians, even going so far as to call them “filthy animals.” And though dos Anjos will have an entire nation pushing him to destroy Covington, the former champ needs to keep his composure and not put himself in bad situations.

Covington enters this fight with wins in each of his past five outings – with the last three coming via decision. Covington was a Division 1 wrestler in college, a skill set that he bases his entire game around. The American constantly fights for the takedown and looks to physically overwhelm and exhaust his opponent.

This is undoubtedly Covington’s biggest test to date. He has some good names on his resume but none can be mistaken for excellent wrestlers who could even remotely challenge him in that aspect of the game. RDA has good takedown defense and if that holds up, Covington may not have an answer for dos Anjos in the striking game.