It appears we may have seen the last of Rafael dos Anjos, as the former UFC lightweight champion removed his gloves in the cage after getting stopped by Alexander Hernandez during the UFC 332 prelims.
Dos Anjos’ counterstriking seemed to get the better of Hernandez early on, as he continuously found the mark on the body. Hernandez had his moments, however, including a right hand that seemed to rock RDA late in the first round.
Hernandez had a more aggressive approach in the second round, and it paid off. He dropped RDA with a jab before landing some solid ground-and-pound. While RDA found his way back up, a hook dropped him again, with Hernandez’s ground-and-pound finishing things at that point.
This was RDA’s 50th professional MMA fight since making his pro debut in the sport in 2004. He made his UFC debut in a loss to Jeremy Stephens at UFC 91. After a 4-4 start to his UFC run, dos Anjos ended up winning 10 of his next 11, with his sole loss in that time coming against Khabib Nurmagomedov.
RDA defeated Anthony Pettis at UFC 185 to win the UFC lightweight championship. He successfully defended the title against Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone before dropping it to Eddie Alvarez.
Dos Anjos then traded wins and losses for the rest of his career before ending with this four-fight losing skid. This was RDA’s first fight since getting injured against Geoff Neal at UFC 308.
