Two high-profile matchups have been declared for upcoming fight cards, and my initial thoughts on both 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 champion 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 at the UFC with all his previous bouts occurring at lightweight. After dropping a decision to Al Iaquinta in his final departure, Lee hinted that he could be moving up a weight class as at age 26 he has grown from his lightweight frame. Though he won’t have the size advantage he did down in 155lbs, with his caliber wrestling abilities and improved striking Lee should still be a solid contender at 170lbs, an the UFC is throwing him into the flame in his divisional debut against a former title challenger in dos Anjos.
Dos Anjos (28-11) is 17-9 at the UFC and has turned out to be both a elite lightweight and welterweight. But at age 34, he is finally showing signs of a decrease with consecutive decision losses to Kamaru Usman and Colby Covington. Losing to those fighters on newspaper isn’t a huge deal, but the Usman fight was a blowout and it’s possible all of the damage has actually taken it’s toll on him now. Still, I would give RDA a good opportunity 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 a fascinating dog play if that’s really the case.
Luke Rockhold vs. Jan Blachowicz, UFC 239
The very first bout added to UFC 239 is a good one, as former UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold will move up to light heavyweight to shoot on Jan Blachowicz. The card occurs July 6 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. ESPN’s Brett Okamoto broke news of this bout.
Rockhold (16-4) is 6-3 overall from the UFC, together with all of his previous bouts coming in middleweight. He hasn’t competed because a KO loss to Yoel Romero in UFC 221 at February 2018, and his last success was a TKO win over David Branch in September 2017. Regardless of the long layoff, Rockhold is still an extremely interesting addition to the UFC light heavyweight division. It was not that long ago when Rockhold was the best middleweight in the world when he won five consecutive fights by ending from the UFC over Michael Bisping, Chris Weidman, Lyoto Machida, Costa Philippou and Tim Boetsch. His shocking KO loss to Bisping from the pair’s rematch in June 2016 will go down as one of the game’s biggest all-time upsets and Rockhold has really 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 also was pumped out by Thiago Santos in a potential light heavyweight title eliminator. Prior to that, Blachowicz had won four straight fights by stoppage and was looking like a title contender. The reduction to Santos reveals his true place in the division, as a luxury gatekeeper who isn’t quite prepared to fight for the belt. That’s why this is good matchmaking from the UFC. Blachowicz is highly rated yet beatable, so there’s a fantastic chance Rockhold beats him and takes his spot in the top-five, which makes him an instant competitor for UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones if that occurs. Start looking for Rockhold to be a strong favorite heading into this particular bout.
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