It’s quite a busy run for MMA, as we enter the third straight November week in which we have major events from Bellator and the UFC, and Contender Series on Tuesday, to boot.
Last week, Raphael dos Anjos partied like it’s 2015. The former UFC lightweight champion had found middling success over the past few years at welterweight. But he returned to the weight class over which he formerly ruled on Saturday at UFC Fight Night 182.
There, he took on a game last-minute foe in the always tough Paul Felder. And he showed the form at 155 which made him champ. RDA got two 50-45 scores in the fight, an accurate portrayal of the bout, along with a nonsensical 48-47 Felder for which officially made the fight a split decision.
Dos Anjos, then, dives right back into the sport’s deepest pool, as he places No. 7 in the new USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings.
The UFC’s card came two nights after an eventful Bellator 252. In the evening’s main event, lightweight and featherweight champ Patricio Freire made short work of Pedro Carvalho in a fight which was both for Freire’s latter title and also a quarterfinal fight in the grand prix tournament.
So where did “Pitbull,” who is just now starting to get his due as one of the world’s truly elite competitors, rank at featherweight after another impressive finish To find out where both he all the other competitors who scored big wins place, click on the drop-down menu at the top of the page.
https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/rankings/