UFC on ESPN+ 24 results: Michael Chiesa decisions Rafael dos Anjos, calls out Colby Covington

Michael Chiesa might not have inflicted a whole lot of damage, but his grappling control against Rafael dos Anjos was the difference on Saturday in his UFC on ESPN+ 24 co-main event win.

Chiesa (16-4 MMA, 10-4 UFC) improved to a perfect 3-0 since moving up to the welterweight division in December 2018 and beat a former undisputed UFC champ for the first time by outworking dos Anjos (29-13 MMA, 18-11 UFC) over three rounds to take a unanimous decision.

The welterweight bout was the UFC on ESPN+ 24 co-main event at PNC Arena in Raleigh, N.C., and streamed on ESPN+.

Following his win, Chiesa took no time targeting his next opponent, taking aim at former interim UFC welterweight champ Colby Covington.

“I’d like to cut this interview short and call out my next opponent,” Chiesa said in his post-fight interview with Daniel Cormier. “Colby Covington, I’ll see you in July.”

That was a big callout after a stellar performance.

After getting a feeling of the range and distance, Chiesa initiated a grappling exchange to much success. He managed to lock up from the clinch and take the fight to the ground, getting on dos Anjos’ back and securing the body triangle just over two minutes in. Chiesa went to apply his signature rear-naked choke, but dos Anjos was wise to it, despite struggling to free himself of Chiesa’s grip. He eventually scrambled to the feet, but only managed to land a body kick before getting tangled up on the fence for the rest of the round.

Chiesa’s gameplan went well in the opening frame, and he went right back to it in Round 2. He pressed forward on dos Anjos and got a takedown less than a minute in. He couldn’t maintain a dominant position, though, and that allowed dos Anjos to avoid being tied up for too long. Dos Anjos landed a pair of kicks in open space that got Chiesa’s attention, and that caused “The Ultimate Fighter” winner to get back into the clinch. He couldn’t do much other than hold, and when dos Anjos broke away he landed some solid punch and kick combinations. Chiesa found his way back into the body lock again, however, and burned clock until the end of the round, but with no damage inflicted.

It didn’t take long into the third and final round for Chiesa to make good with his grappling as he closed the distance on dos Anjos, got a takedown and got solid position from half guard. He controlled dos Anjos and took time off the clock while going for initial submission setups, but he couldn’t do anything to truly put dos Anjos in danger of being stopped. His pursuit of the finish and minutes of top control were enough to score points to tip the scale in his favor, though, and give him the decision win by scores of 30-27, 29-28 and 29-28.

Up-to-the-minute UFC on ESPN+ 24 results include:

• Michael Chiesa def. Rafael dos Anjos via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
• AlexPerez def. Jordan Espinosa via submission (arm-triangle choke) – Round 1, 2:33
• Angela Hill def. Hannah Cifers via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 4:26
• Jamahal Hill def. Darko Stosic via unanimous decision (29-27, 29-27, 29-27)
• Bevon Lewis def. Dequan Townsend via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Arnold Allen def. Nik Lentz via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
• Justine Kish def. Lucie Pudilova via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Montel Jackson def. Felipe Colares via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-25)
• Sara McMann def. Lina Lansberg via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-26, 30-25)
• Brett Johns def. Tony Gravely via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 3, 2:53
• Herbert Burns def. Nate Landwehr via knockout (knee) – Round 1, 2:43