After almost two years without fighting, mostly because of injuries, former lightweight champion Rafael Dos Anjos returns to the Octagon. The Brazilian fighter booked a fight for UFC 332 in Salt Lake City, Utah. He takes on Alexander Hernandez in the lightweight division.
Multiple sources have confirmed the booking to Heavy.com after an initial report by ESPN Brasil. It will be Dos Anjos’s 37th UFC appearance and 50th career fight overall. Following Jim Miller, he is currently the longest-tenured active fighter in the promotion.
Still Going Strong
Rafael Dos Anjos has been in the UFC for almost 18 years. The now 41-year-old fighter from Brazil started his career in the UFC in 2008. Dos Anjos struggled early on in his UFC career but made big waves in the lightweight division between 2012 and 2016. After riding a five-fight winning streak, including a win against Donald Cerrone, Dos Anjos was close to a title shot but lost to later champion Khabib Nurmagomedov. Despite that loss, Dos Anjos bounced back with three consecutive wins in 2014, including victories over Benson Henderson and Nate Diaz. Those victories led to a title shot in 2015 against Anthony Pettis. Dos Anjos dominated the fight and won the lightweight title via unanimous decision. The Brazilian fighter defended the belt in a rematch against Cerrone but lost the title via knockout in the first round against Eddie Alvarez. A consecutive loss against top contender Tony Ferguson put Dos Anjos out of title contention.
Dos Anjos proved in 2017 that he was still a force to be reckoned with. With three consecutive wins against fighters like Neil Magny and Robbie Lawler, Dos Anjos was back on top of the division. Unfortunately for ‘RDA’, he wasn’t able to get back to the title anymore. In his next five fights, he only beat Kevin Lee. The other four fights were all lost by unanimous decision. Dos Anjos tried to build back up momentum with wins against Paul Felder and Renato Moicano, but was knocked out by Rafael Fiziev in 2022. This made Dos Anjos decide to move up to welterweight. He started with a solid rear-naked choke submission win over Bryan Barberena, but it would be his only win in the division. After dropping decisions to Vicente Luque and Mateusz Gamrot, Dos Anjos injured himself in his most recent fight almost two years ago against Geoff Neal. Now recovered, he returns to lightweight to take on Alexander Hernandez.
Impressive Start, Main Stay In Division
When the now 33-year-old Alexander Hernandez made his UFC debut in 2018, he had a flying start in the UFC. Hernandez took on Beneil Dariush on short notice. The American fighter literally jumped on that opportunity and surprised Dariush by knocking him out in the first minute of the fight. After also beating Olivier Aubin-Mercier, Hernandez got a massive step up in competition from the UFC by matching him with Donald Cerrone. Cerrone wasn’t impressed at all by Hernandez and finished him in the second round by TKO. From that moment, Hernandez struggled in the UFC and had trouble building a winning streak. After losing to Renato Moicano, Hernandez decided to drop down in weight to the featherweight division.
In the first round against Billy Quarantillo, Hernandez looked like an absolute contender. But after Quarantillo weathered the storm, he finished a gassed Hernandez in the second round. Hernandez bounced back with a short-notice win back at lightweight against Jim Miller, but dropped down again after that fight and suffered two losses. Hernandez re-evaluated his decision and went back to lightweight. One of the best decisions he could make. He finally put together a winning streak of four fights, including wins over Chase Hooper and Diego Ferreira, both by finish. In his most recent fight earlier this year, Hernandez lost a unanimous decision against Rafa Garcia. Hernandez now gets a great opportunity to take on a former champion in Rafael Dos Anjos.
UFC 332 – Salt Lake City
- Deiveson Figueiredo vs. Payton Talbott
- Mick Parkin vs. Johnny Walker
- Rafael Dos Anjos vs. Alexander Hernandez
- Marvin Vettori vs. Ismail Naurdiev
- Roman Kopylov vs. Ateba Gautier
- Damian Pinas vs. Andrey Pulyaev
- Court McGee vs. Eric Nolan
- Imanol Rodríguez vs. Alden Coria
Former Champion Rafael Dos Anjos Returns After Almost Two Years