Dos Anjos, Jedrzejczyk upset opponents at UFC 185

Nissi Icasiano

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Dos Anjos, Jedrzejczyk upset opponents at UFC 185
Dos Anjos dominates Anthony Pettis to capture the UFC lightweight title, while Jedrzejczyk dethrones Carla Esparza to claim the women’s strawweight trinket.

MANILA, Philippines – Both Rafael dos Anjos and Joanna Jedrzejczyk walked out of the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas with championship belts around their waist as they scored upsets against their respective foes at the UFC 185 pay-per-view event on Sunday, March 15 (PH Time).

Dos Anjos dominated Anthony Pettis in five rounds to capture the UFC lightweight title, while Jedrzejczyk dethroned Carla Esparza with her stellar takedown defense and stand-up game to claim the women’s strawweight trinket.

The 30-year-old Brazilian outclassed Pettis in both grappling and striking departments to win by unanimous decision with the identical 50-45 scores across the board.

“It’s such an amazing blessing when you came into a fight and knew you were going to win,” Dos Anjos said in his post-fight interview.

From the opening bell, Dos Anjos asserted his will by launching a straight left that caught Pettis within the first minute and immediately put the champion in deep trouble.

According to Pettis, the aforementioned blow hindered his ability to see and defend against punches when his right eye immediately started to swell.

“I couldn’t see out of my eye the whole time. I couldn’t see out of my peripheral,” he revealed.

Dos Anjos bottled up the 28-year-old Roufusport standout with merciless forward pressure on the feet and a continuous stream of takedowns across 25 minutes.

Moreover, he opened a cut over Pettis’ right eye in the second round and threatened to submit him with a Kimura lock and rear-naked choke in the fourth period.

With the remarkable triumph over Pettis, Dos Anjos becomes the seventh lightweight titleholder in Ultimate Fighting Championship history and improves his professional record to 24-7.

According to FightMetric statistics, Dos Anjos connected 144 strikes and converted nine of his ten takedown attempts.

Meanwhile, Pettis suffers his first loss since he dropped a unanimous decision to Clay Guida in June 2011 and downgrades his prizefighting standing to 18-3.

On the other hand, Jedrzejczyk (9-0) defeated Esparza (10-3) via second round technical knockout, unloading sharp jabs and stinging right hands to compel referee Don Turnage to halt the action at the 4:17 mark.

The 27-year-old Polish stuffed nearly every attempt by Esparza to get the fight to the ground that prompted the American to shoot for more forced takedowns and show signs of frustration.

Jedrzejczyk continued to overwhelm Esparza with vicious strikes, popping the Team Oyama’s head back with an uppercut and snapping her chin to the side with a left hook.

Sensing that the end was near, Jedrzejczyk attacked with a blitz of punches in the final minute of the round to get the stoppage victory.

“No one believed in my grappling. I am in the UFC, the best federation in the world, and I am a complete MMA fighter. Nobody is going to take this belt from me,” she said after the fight. 

Rappler.com

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