Breaking: Anthony Pettis vs. Rafael Dos Anjos Headlines UFC 185 in Dallas (Poll)

[Helmut Zemo]

I think it is a tough fight for Pettis and I give RDA a better chance than I gave any of Pettis' past few opponents. I really thought RDA was Top-3 in the division after the Cerrone win, and he is the first guy Pettis is up against who can box, kick, wrestle, and grapple at fairly a high level as him. Cerrone and Lauzon both have many defensive flaws in their striking. Henderson has a great clinch game and is a good kicker, but his defence there is lacking and despite the boxing improvements he has shown recently (from the RDA fight he had a nice 1-3-2 combination that was unexpected and RDA had to think more for) he still doesn't have the hands to dissuade Pettis (who has some of the best boxing in the division) from setting up his kicks.

Melendez has an aggressive pressure game, more of a boxer-wrestler, and can wrestle better than RDA, but his boxing is predictable and he has never dealt with counters all that well. RDA isn't likely to make the same mistakes those guys made. He will likely be able to apply intelligent pressure, which will prevent him from running into Pettis' hands while giving him the ability to neutralize the kicks to some extent. Pettis' control of range is very good but RDA has shown great positioning recently, and I think Pettis will have a tougher time loading up his kicks because of that.

This fight kind of has a bit of a Weidman-Silva feel to me. Pettis loves fighting from the outside, setting guys up, and not being pushed around. I think that is part of why he looked vulnerable in that first round against Melendez, with his pressure. RDA is more durable than Melendez, more athletic (certainly has more power and speed), and has a much better skill-set for pressure fighting on the front-foot, much more adept at cutting off the cage, especially with his kicks (which are some of the most Thai-style in MMA). He is going to try to cut off that space that Pettis likes to use to operate his out-fighting. Pettis is going to try to get the centre and when on the back-foot move laterally from both sides to prevent RDA from setting his feet. I also think RDA is better in the pocket than both Melendez and Pettis, where Pettis likes his straight punches and moving his feet away to get out there, don't think he is as comfortable.

They both have similar reach so we are going to see a lot of movement from Pettis, forcing RDA to catch up to him, to react to his set-ups. He is really going to try to maintain the initiative and establish threats so he can be the guy to choose when to strikes, block off RDA's options and front-foot attack, and when to go on the defensive. RDA is going to try to get him out of out-fighting, feint coming forward, throw round kicks and counter kicks with kicks, set up takedowns, use that trailing foot-weighted jab when he gets him near the cage, and to set up various and unpredictable strikes off it.

Pettis is very good at cutting guys off and his cagecraft is great as well. He creates opportunities very well, even for his counters even though that isn't his A game. He can see gaps in a guy's defence very well and he uses feints very basically, but expertly. He was using similar feints to set up his kicks to the body against Henderson that he used against Lauzon to set up the high kick. In the Henderson fight the difference was the target, where Pettis chose the body since he saw that Henderson always responded to being attacked (by punches) by raising his left glove to his temple, often flaring his elbow out slightly as he did so.

For someone like Pettis that few inches under the elbow is a massive and irresistible opening. Knowing it was there all he had to do was feint and throw to land those brutal kicks. He was also smart enough to not throw horizontal kicks but 45

 

[GoshiShun17]

I'm just glad I don't have to watch Rampage vs Shogun. You guys need to get over your nostalgia.

 

[JayElectra]

People really were overlooking what RDA brought to the table. Having said that, I didn't see Pettis getting completely outclassed like he did.

 

[Helmut Zemo]

People really were overlooking what RDA brought to the table. Having said that, I didn't see Pettis getting completely outclassed like he did.

Yeah, me neither. Pettis is really tough and durable too. I had RDA taking a competitive, but clear decision.

 

[JackWhite]

I honestly felt RDA had the chance of a win similar to Cain Vs JDS I. I didn't see him out classing Pettis for the entire fight. Was rooting for Pettis, but solid win for RDA.

 

[nixkid]

I think it is a tough fight for Pettis and I give RDA a better chance than I gave any of Pettis' past few opponents. I really thought RDA was Top-3 in the division after the Cerrone win, and he is the first guy Pettis is up against who can box, kick, wrestle, and grapple at fairly a high level as him. Cerrone and Lauzon both have many defensive flaws in their striking. Henderson has a great clinch game and is a good kicker, but his defence there is lacking and despite the boxing improvements he has shown recently (from the RDA fight he had a nice 1-3-2 combination that was unexpected and RDA had to think more for) he still doesn't have the hands to dissuade Pettis (who has some of the best boxing in the division) from setting up his kicks.

Melendez has an aggressive pressure game, more of a boxer-wrestler, and can wrestle better than RDA, but his boxing is predictable and he has never dealt with counters all that well. RDA isn't likely to make the same mistakes those guys made. He will likely be able to apply intelligent pressure, which will prevent him from running into Pettis' hands while giving him the ability to neutralize the kicks to some extent. Pettis' control of range is very good but RDA has shown great positioning recently, and I think Pettis will have a tougher time loading up his kicks because of that.

This fight kind of has a bit of a Weidman-Silva feel to me. Pettis loves fighting from the outside, setting guys up, and not being pushed around. I think that is part of why he looked vulnerable in that first round against Melendez, with his pressure. RDA is more durable than Melendez, more athletic (certainly has more power and speed), and has a much better skill-set for pressure fighting on the front-foot, much more adept at cutting off the cage, especially with his kicks (which are some of the most Thai-style in MMA). He is going to try to cut off that space that Pettis likes to use to operate his out-fighting. Pettis is going to try to get the centre and when on the back-foot move laterally from both sides to prevent RDA from setting his feet. I also think RDA is better in the pocket than both Melendez and Pettis, where Pettis likes his straight punches and moving his feet away to get out there, don't think he is as comfortable.

They both have similar reach so we are going to see a lot of movement from Pettis, forcing RDA to catch up to him, to react to his set-ups. He is really going to try to maintain the initiative and establish threats so he can be the guy to choose when to strikes, block off RDA's options and front-foot attack, and when to go on the defensive. RDA is going to try to get him out of out-fighting, feint coming forward, throw round kicks and counter kicks with kicks, set up takedowns, use that trailing foot-weighted jab when he gets him near the cage, and to set up various and unpredictable strikes off it.

Pettis is very good at cutting guys off and his cagecraft is great as well. He creates opportunities very well, even for his counters even though that isn't his A game. He can see gaps in a guy's defence very well and he uses feints very basically, but expertly. He was using similar feints to set up his kicks to the body against Henderson that he used against Lauzon to set up the high kick. In the Henderson fight the difference was the target, where Pettis chose the body since he saw that Henderson always responded to being attacked (by punches) by raising his left glove to his temple, often flaring his elbow out slightly as he did so.

For someone like Pettis that few inches under the elbow is a massive and irresistible opening. Knowing it was there all he had to do was feint and throw to land those brutal kicks. He was also smart enough to not throw horizontal kicks but 45

 

[GrindingANARCHY]

I had a feeling RDA might win when I saw Shonuf and Jay Electra voted for him. I still doubted and figured Pettis was just above everyone else. Great job by the 19% who voted for RDA.

 

[Helmut Zemo]

lol@editing your post AFTER the fight.

It was literally two words that didn't change the tone of the post at all. I picked RDA in the poll as well and you can't edit that, lol ...

 

[JayElectra]

lol@editing your post AFTER the fight.

The post is the same as it was before the fight. He was probably just correcting a typo.

 

[JayElectra]

Yeah, me neither. Pettis is really tough and durable too. I had RDA taking a competitive, but clear decision.

I didn't think Dos Anjos would have so much success with his wrestling. I wasn't shocked seeing him beat Pettis down on the feet as Pettis isn't that great defensively when he is really pressured and Dos Anjos is good on the front foot (and has just generally looked great on the feet over the last year), but I didn't think the takedowns would be so easy for Dos Anjos to get.

 

[Max Power]

I really wish that I had bet on this.

 

[Arkain2K]

I had a feeling RDA might win when I saw Shonuf and Jay Electra voted for him. I still doubted and figured Pettis was just above everyone else. Great job by the 19% who voted for RDA.

You didn't pay attention to Nam Phan's pick?

 

[Helmut Zemo]

I didn't think Dos Anjos would have so much success with his wrestling. I wasn't shocked seeing him beat Pettis down on the feet as Pettis isn't that great defensively when he is really pressured and Dos Anjos is good on the front foot (and has just generally looked great on the feet over the last year), but I didn't think the takedowns would be so easy for Dos Anjos to get.

All of the successful takedowns surprised me as well, knew he would be setting those up and that Pettis wouldn't submit or out-grapple him if he got them as he is positionally very sound and rarely makes mistakes. But his strength really shined for a couple of them when the set-ups weren't quite up to par. I also thought Pettis blew a potential big opportunity to change the tide in a transition by trying to take RDA down instead of separating and throwing.

Also, I made a loose comparison to Weidman-Silva and I feel some aspects showed there tonight. Weidman/RDA just showed no respect, didn't retreat/get desperate into making stupid mistakes, took them out of their out-fighting game for the most part, neutralized their guard/submission threats, their pressure games stifled the champs, neither champ was as comfortable exchanging against the cage or in the pocket as they thought, etc.

 

[JayElectra]

All of the successful takedowns surprised me as well, knew he would be setting those up and that Pettis wouldn't submit or out-grapple him if he got them as he is positionally very sound and rarely makes mistakes. But his strength really shined for a couple of them when the set-ups weren't quite up to par. I also thought Pettis blew a potential big opportunity to change the tide in a transition by trying to take RDA down instead of separating and throwing.

Also, I made a loose comparison to Weidman-Silva and I feel some aspects showed there tonight. Weidman/RDA just showed no respect, didn't retreat/get desperate into making stupid mistakes, took them out of their out-fighting game for the most part, neutralized their guard/submission threats, their pressure games stifled the champs, neither champ was as comfortable exchanging against the cage or in the pocket as they thought, etc.

I can see that comparison to a certain extent. Pettis never looked comfortable in the fight from the first exchange onwards. There was some similar discomfort there against Melendez, but Melendez always right there to be hit and Pettis' hand speed advantage (and chin) was enough to make up for his lack of boxing craft. Dos Anjos wasn't so easy to counter and Pettis' hand speed couldn't save him in this situation. Pettis does have a great chin on him. I think that most fighters would have gotten stopped after the punishment Pettis took in the first round.

 

[Helmut Zemo]

I can see that comparison to a certain extent. Pettis never looked comfortable in the fight from the first exchange onwards. There was some similar discomfort there against Melendez, but Melendez always right there to be hit and Pettis' hand speed advantage (and chin) was enough to make up for his lack of boxing craft. Dos Anjos wasn't so easy to counter and Pettis' hand speed couldn't save him in this situation. Pettis does have a great chin on him. I think that most fighters would have gotten stopped after the punishment Pettis took in the first round.

True, and Melendez isn't the pressure fighter RDA is either. He is a wrestle-boxer who can fight that type, but not really excel in it. I don't think it is natural to him as a mentality to fight that way. Melendez retreated in the 2nd round, got hit, and got desperate enough to put himself into an uppercut. RDA had much better responses when he got hit and never strayed away from the game-plan or lost the technical ability in his work. RDA never gave Pettis the space or room to adapt. Pettis seriously couldn't hit him without being hit right back, often with the same strike he had just used.

Pettis still has some of the best boxing in the division but he falls apart in the pocket. His power and precision have kept that from troubling him too much up until now, and RDA just didn't care about his counters. Pettis abandons stance, throws arm punches, ducks his head. At this point he might be too uncomfortable to do the correct thing inside. He also seemed to not have much for RDA's body work which I thought was a key for him.

I have thought for a while now that Johnson and Iaquinta were the two best in the division, and their recent performances kind of validated that I feel. But I thought before this fight that Pettis and RDA were in line for the next spot with guys like Pearson, Makdessi, Alvarez, etc. I think RDA is a clear 3rd, not the offensive repertoire of Alvarez, the jab of Makdessi, or the inside slips/head movement of Pearson, but I think he has a reliable offence that compliments his overall game and a sound defence as well that he can alternate with. He had some great work in the pocket this night, and even though his defence wasn't perfect it allowed him positions to stay right on Pettis albeit eating some shots. Pettis likes backing people up but mostly likes striking when they are on the defensive, but RDA's offensive output was just too much for him.

 

[JayElectra]

True, and Melendez isn't the pressure fighter RDA is either. He is a wrestle-boxer who can fight that type, but not really excel in it. I don't think it is natural to him as a mentality to fight that way. Melendez retreated in the 2nd round, got hit, and got desperate enough to put himself into an uppercut. RDA had much better responses when he got hit and never strayed away from the game-plan or lost the technical ability in his work.

I feel I overrated Pettis' boxing a bit. I have thought for a while now that Johnson and Iaquinta were the two best in the division, and their recent performances kind of validated that I feel. But I thought before this fight that Pettis and RDA were in line for the next spot with guys like Pearson, Makdessi, Alvarez, etc. I think RDA is a clear 3rd, not the offensive repertoire of Alvarez, the jab of Makdessi, or the inside slips/head movement of Pearson, but I think he has a reliable offence that compliments his overall game and a sound defence as well that he can alternate with. He had some great work in the pocket this night.

Yeah, his footwork when he faces some pressure isn't really all that good. He can be backed into the cage rather easily and once he is squared up with his back to the cage, he's a fairly easy target. Melendez was able to get him into vulnerable positions and he landed a fair amount, but Melendez put himself in bad positions and Pettis' hand speed and power bailed him out. Dos Anjos didn't overcommit and put himself in bad positions and even when Dos Anjos squared up and exchanged, Dos Anjos was sharper and got off first. What is interesting was the success both Dos Anjos and Melendez had almost completely taking away Pettis' great kicking game.

 

[Helmut Zemo]

Yeah, his footwork when he faces some pressure isn't really all that good. He can be backed into the cage rather easily and once he is squared up with his back to the cage, he's a fairly easy target. Melendez was able to get him into vulnerable positions and he landed a fair amount, but Melendez put himself in bad positions and Pettis' hand speed and power bailed him out. Dos Anjos didn't overcommit and put himself in bad positions and even when Dos Anjos squared up and exchanged, Dos Anjos was sharper and got off first. What is interesting was the success both Dos Anjos and Melendez had almost completely taking away Pettis' great kicking game.

I don't think it is surprising about that last part, especially against RDA's positioning. Pettis uses his hands a great deal to set up his kicks, and against Melendez and RDA he fought two guys who weren't totally out-matched there (RDA has better boxing even). I think Pettis just struggles when guys can apply some type of intelligent pressure and stay on the offensive. When he can't maintain the initiative, since would rather do all of the striking in his fights, rather than letting guy throw in order to counter. He likes to back people up, but he thrives and really shows off his skill-set when guys are on the defensive (like Lauzon, Cerrone, and Henderson were when they were forced to react to him and not mount an offence of their own). If they don't back up like Melendez he likes to move around them, but RDA did a great job with his kicks to dissuade him from that, showed solid footwork, stayed in his face, and didn't need to be on the back-foot when Pettis threw counters because of how sound his positioning was.