Two high-profile matchups are declared for upcoming battle cards, and my initial thoughts on the two are below.
Kevin Lee vs. Rafael dos Anjos, UFC Fight Night 151
Kevin Lee is done with lightweight as he’ll move up to welterweight and take on former UFC lightweight winner Rafael dos Anjos at the main 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 choice to Al Iaquinta in his last bout, Lee hinted he could be moving up a weight class as at age 26 he has grown from his lightweight framework. Though he will not have the size advantage he’d down at 155lbs, together with his quality wrestling abilities 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 at the UFC and has proven to be both a elite lightweight and welterweight. However, at age 34, he is finally showing signs of a decline with successive decision losses to Kamaru Usman and Colby Covington. Losing to those fighters on newspaper isn’t a massive deal, but the Usman struggle was a blowout and it’s possible all of the harm has actually taken it’s toll on him now. However, I’d give RDA a good chance to beat Lee in this battle. With Lee’s popularity and childhood benefit I expect him to be put as a decently-sized favorite, making RDA an intriguing dog play if that’s really true.
Luke Rockhold vs. Jan Blachowicz, UFC 239
The first bout added to UFC 239 is a great one, as former UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold will move up to light heavyweight to shoot on Jan Blachowicz. The card occurs 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 in the UFC, with all his previous bouts coming in middleweight. He has not competed since a KO loss to Yoel Romero at UFC 221 at February 2018, and his last success was a TKO win over David Branch in September 2017. Despite the long layoff, Rockhold is still a very 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 fights 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 as one of the sport’s biggest all-time upsets and Rockhold has really struggled since then. However, the thought procedure is that his chin ought to be sturdier going up a weight class, although that remains to be seen.
Blachowicz (23-8) is 6-5 from the UFC and also was recently knocked 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 loss to Santos shows his true place in the division, as a high-end gatekeeper who isn’t quite prepared to fight to the belt. That is why this is good matchmaking from the UFC. Blachowicz is highly ranked yet beatable, so there’s a good chance Rockhold beats him and takes his spot in the top-five, making him an immediate contender for UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones if this happens. Start looking for Rockhold for a strong favorite heading into this particular bout.
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