June 17 will be the day when Rafael Dos Anjos will have the chance to add a second UFC belt to his resume, the welterweight belt. He intends to become the UFC welterweight champion, and his first assignment in the Octagon will be against Tarec Saffiedine, a former Strikeforce welterweight champion. It will go down at the UFC Fight Night 111 card in Singapoer in the city of Kallang. It’s not like the Golden Nugget Atlantic City casino where UFC fights are frequently hosted, but Kallang will do too.
Tarec Saffiedine is exactly the type of opponent he needs after moving into the welterweight class. He was previously in the lightweight division where he suffered a string of losses. Rafael Dos Anjos thinks greatly of his opponent Tarec Saffiedine, who in truth is a great opponent. Rafael is happy to have him as his first welterweight opponent, which was exactly the type of fighter he wanted, a fighter ranked in the top 10.
As a former lightweight champion, Rafael Dos Anjos believes that he has deserved to fight someone ranked. And, he got none other but a former Strikeforce champion and a former world champion. This alone makes the fight great and the anticipation is big with the public.
Rafael Dos Anjos moved up to welterweight because he had trouble staying below the weight needed to remain in the lightweight class. The Brazillian said that his body struggled with the weight, even though he never missed the limit inside the Octagon in his 21 fights.
His two last fights were disappointing where he lost the UFC lightweight belt to Eddie Alvarez. This happened in July last year. Four months later Dos Anjos lost to Tony Ferguson in Mexico in a fight that lasted five rounds and was ended with a decision.
Although Saffiedine is a former welterweight champion and the last one in Strikeforce, he has suffered many injuries in his UFC career. He too lost his two last fights which were decision losses against Dong Hyun Kim and Rick Story.
Rafael Dos Anjos is aware that his path to win the fight and become the best in the welterweight class is no easy one. But, he intends to stick to his game. He is hoping to use more his jiu-jitsu and wrestling techniques, which he hasn’t used much before even though he thinks of himself as a complete fighter.
But, sticking to his game is what he plans in the fight against Saffiedine. If he gets the opportunity he will use it and like always he will walk forward. Dos Anjos believes that he is strong enough to be a welterweight champion. In fact, he claims that fighting in it will make him a lot stronger because he won’t be limited by the weight cut like in the lightweight division. This should make him a better performer. Anyway, it will be an exciting game considering he has a lot to prove in his new division.