Former UFC Lightweight Champion Rafael Dos Anjos will be making his welterweight division debut at UFC Fight Night 111, where he faces former Strikeforce Welterweight Champion Tarec Saffiedine.
The Brazilian captured gold at lightweight and now he says gold will be coming to him in the welterweight division as well.
"I believe that a win would put me in the top 10,” Dos Anjos said to MMA Fighting. "When you fight the champion and win, you become the champion. If you beat the No. 10 (ranked fighter), you become the No. 10. I think (the win) puts me in this mix, and that’s my goal. No rush, but my goal is the welterweight belt. I think I have what it takes to get there. But I’ll do at welterweight what I did at lightweight, no rush. I’ll slowly get there. I have the qualities to get there. But a win over Tarec Saffiedine will definitely put me in this mix."
If Dos Anjos were to win the UFC Welterweight Title, it would make him only one of a handful of fighters to accomplish that goal in the UFC.
Everything starts with Saffiedine and UFC Fight Night 111, in which a victory would propel Dos Anjos into the top 10 -- in his opinion anyway.
"I think Tarec Saffiedine is a great opponent for my first fight at welterweight,” Dos Anjos said. "That’s exactly what I wanted, a top-10 (ranked fighter). I’m a former lightweight champion and I believe I deserved to fight someone ranked, and Tarec is also a former world champion, a former Strikeforce champion. It’s going to be a great fight.”
UFC Fight Night 111 takes place on Saturday, June 17 from the Singapore Indoor Stadium in Kallang, Songapore with Bethe Correia and Holly Holm headlining. Fightful is providing live coverage of the event.
