Dos Anjos earns unanimous nod over Saffiedine in welterweight debut
Rafael dos Anjos' welterweight journey is off to a good start.
The former UFC lightweight champion won a unanimous decision over No. 11-ranked Tarec Saffiedine to open up the main card of UFC Fight Night 111 in Kallang, Singapore on Saturday. It was Dos Anjos' first fight at 170 pounds inside the Octagon.
"Que jeito de estrear nos meio-médios! É só o começo, ainda vou conquistar muitas coisas" - @RdosAnjosMMA 👏👏 pic.twitter.com/BSspRwsa6o
— UFC Brasil (@ufc_brasil) June 17, 2017
Dos Anjos was searching for a fresh start after losing the lightweight title to Eddie Alvarez last July and following that with a five-round unanimous decision loss to Tony Ferguson. Freed of his weight-cut struggles, Dos Anjos showed flashes of his past dominance in his bout with Saffiedine.
The bigger Saffiedine caught a kick from Dos Anjos and brought the action to the mat early, only to find himself fighting off a kimura submission attempt:
Quase que a finalização de @RdosAnjosMMA veio no #UFCSingapura! pic.twitter.com/lxF0QyOR2s
— UFC Brasil (@ufc_brasil) June 17, 2017
Back on the feet, Dos Anjos used crisp boxing and clinch work to punish Saffiedine's body, which paid off in the later rounds. The former champion also did a good job of mixing in takedowns, though he became overaggressive in the second round, landing a pair of illegal knees to the head of a kneeling Saffiedine that went unnoticed by the referee.
In Round 3, Dos Anjos continued to punish Saffiedine's body and pressure him against the fence. "The Sponge" failed to find any sort of rhythm and looked worn down by Dos Anjos's tactics en route to dropping the decision.
Dos Anjos' first welterweight win is his 15th in the UFC and his 26th overall.
Saffiedine is now winless in three straight fights. The former Strikeforce champion has just one win in his past five contests.