UFC ANNOUNCES KEVIN LEE VS. RAFAEL DOS ANJOS, LUKE ROCKHOLD VS. JAN BLACHOWICZ
Two high profile matchups have been announced for upcoming battle cards, and my first thoughts on the two are under.
Kevin Lee vs. Rafael dos Anjos, UFC Fight Night 151
Kevin Lee is performed with lightweight as he’ll move up to welterweight and choose on former UFC lightweight winner Rafael dos Anjos at the primary event of UFC Fight Night 151. The episode is set for May 18 at Blue Cross Arena in Rochester, New York.
Lee (17-4) is 10-4 in the UFC with all his previous bouts occurring in lightweight. After dropping a decision to Al Iaquinta in his final bout, Lee hinted he would be moving up a weight class as at age 26 he has grown from his lightweight framework. Though he won’t have the size advantage he did down in 155lbs, with his quality wrestling skills and improved striking Lee should still be a solid competitor at 170lbs, an the UFC is throwing him into the fire in his divisional debut against a former title challenger in dos Anjos.
Dos Anjos (28-11) is 17-9 in the UFC and has turned out to be equally an elite lightweight and welterweight. But at age 34, he is finally showing signs of a decrease with successive decision losses to Kamaru Usman and Colby Covington. Losing to these fighters on paper is not a huge deal, but the Usman struggle was a blowout and it is possible all of the harm has actually taken it’s toll on him now. However, I would give RDA a good chance to beat Lee in this fight. With Lee’s fame and youth advantage I expect him to be set as a decently-sized favored, making RDA an intriguing puppy play if that’s really the case.
Luke Rockhold vs. Jan Blachowicz, UFC 239
The very first bout added to UFC 239 is a great man, as former UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold will move up to light heavyweight to shoot on Jan Blachowicz. The card takes place July 6 in T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. ESPN’s Brett Okamoto broke news of the bout.
Rockhold (16-4) is 6-3 overall from the UFC, with all of his past spells coming in middleweight. He has not competed because a KO loss to Yoel Romero in UFC 221 in February 2018, along with his last success was a TKO win over David Branch in September 2017. Despite the long layoff, Rockhold remains an extremely interesting addition to the UFC light heavyweight division. It was not that long ago when Rockhold was the best middleweight on the planet when he won five straight struggles by finish in the UFC over Michael Bisping, Chris Weidman, Lyoto Machida, Costa Philippou and Tim Boetsch. His shocking KO loss to Bisping from the group rematch in June 2016 will go down among the sport’s greatest all-time upsets and Rockhold has struggled since then. On the other hand, the thought process is that his chin ought to be sturdier moving up a weight class, though that remains to be seen.
Blachowicz (23-8) is 6-5 from the UFC and and was pumped out by Thiago Santos in a potential light heavyweight title eliminator. Prior to that, Blachowicz had won four straight struggles by stoppage and was looking like a title contender. The reduction to Santos shows his true place in the division, as a high-end gatekeeper who is not quite prepared to battle for the belt. That’s why this is good matchmaking by the UFC. Blachowicz is highly rated yet beatable, so there’s a good opportunity Rockhold defeats him takes his place from the top-five, which makes him an immediate contender for UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones if that happens. Start looking for Rockhold for a solid favorite heading into the bout.
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