Rafael dos Anjos calls for rematch against Tony Ferguson
Former UFC lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos called for a rematch against his divisional rival and longtime title contender Tony Ferguson.
Dos Anjos and Ferguson are ranked at No. 6 and No. 7 overall in the UFC lightweight division, so a fight between the two veterans makes a lot of sense based on the rankings alone. Of course, this would also be a rematch, which would add further intrigue to the fight. The two previously met back at a UFC Fight Night event in November 2016, which Ferguson won via unanimous decision. Five years later, and dos Anjos is hoping to get revenge against his longtime rival.
Taking to his social media this weekend, dos Anjos called Ferguson out and said that he has already been in contact with the UFC about the matchup. Take a look at what dos Anjos wrote to Ferguson below.
@TonyFergusonXT do you have plans for February 19? I gave @ufc green light on my end.
— Rafael dos Anjos (@RdosAnjosMMA) January 1, 2022
@TonyFergusonXT do you have plans for February 19? I gave @ufc green light on my end.
Dos Anjos has not fought since November 2020 when he won a split decision over Paul Felder. The Brazilian was tied to a high-profile matchup against rising star Islam Makhachev several times in 2021, but the fight fell apart every time due to injuries and other issues. Instead, dos Anjos didn’t even end up fitting once in 2021. At age 37, the Brazilian is not young, so missing a year from his career could affect him.
As for Ferguson, 2021 was not his year, either. He fought once against Beneil Dariush and lost a lopsided unanimous decision, Ferguson’s third straight loss following defeats to Charles Oliveira and Justin Gaethje before that. While Ferguson hasn’t looked good in the last few years, he has been fighting elite competition, so it will be interesting to see what happens when he fights someone who isn’t ranked in the top five.
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