Rafael dos Anjos defeated Paul Felder in the main event of the UFC Fight Night 182 vis split decision. Now, even though it is a split decision, the Brazilian was more than confident in this contest, outperforming the rival, who did fight courageously.
Khabib Nurmagomedov Defeats Justin Gaethje, Announces Retirement
That split decision came with two 50-45 scorings for dos Anjos and one 47-48 for Felder. Yet it appears that judge Chris Lee who scored in Felder’s favor, did that to honor his courageous decision to take the bout one a five-day notice. That would allow the fighter to have an honorable defeat as he already entered the fight with a significant deficit.
UFC Fight Night 181: Uriah Hall vs. Anderson Silva Preview and Pick
Overall, dos Anjos (30-13 MMA, 19-11 UFC) was much better, scoring hits from a distance before retreating, and posting a few takedowns, after which he worked on the ground using his superiority over Felder (17-6 MMA, 9-6 UFC) in this aspect of the fight. The Irish Dragon used his jabs to keep the separation but never managed to put up a combo that would hurt dos Anjos or make him shaky.
Eventually, Felder looked bashed and smashed, but he would never take a step back, but endured until the very end. He would avoid dos Anjos’ attempts to solve the match on the ground, earning massive respect for going to the former lightweight champion’s distance.
Felder had to cut 22 pounds in the last five days sources say, and he managed to do that without any problems, which no doubt took a lot of energy from him. The American was preparing for a triathlon race, and according to his words, his cardio was very good, which was the reason why he had the power to endure all five rounds. However, there was no time for him for all other preparations.
Felder, who even mentioned retirement, has a motive to return to the MMA, following this fight. Going five rounds against the former champion, and one of the best in the division, without a decent training camp, suggests that he might make big results in normal conditions.
UFC on ESPN+40: Andrei Arlovski vs. Tanner Boser Preview and Pick
On the other side, dos Anjos already named his next opponent. The Brazilian would like to face Conor McGregor, who announced a comeback recently. The two should meet way back, but that bout never happened for various reasons. dos Anjos wants to attack the title once again and knows that he needs to beat the Notorious in order of doing so.