Post-UFC 332 analysis: Rafael dos Anjos and retirement

Rafael dos Anjos' performance at UFC 332 didn't inspire much confidence in him moving forward. That, combined with other factors, should nudge him toward retirement. Taking another fight means taking more unnecessary damage, which isn't sensible for a career that, at this point, won't be going anywhere but down.

UFC 332 fallout: Rafael dos Anjos

In the mid-2010s, Rafael dos Anjos' work at Kings MMA under Rafael Cordeiro had transformed him into one of the most terrifying forces in the UFC lightweight division. He became a Muay Thai specialist with a high-octane pressure game, using sweeping punches to deprive his opponent of any space to circle away, while battering their legs with punishing low kicks. On the wrestling front, he had improved tremendously, and being as strong as an ox certainly helped. Just ask Nate Diaz, who 'RDA' manhandled at UFC on FOX 13 to a unanimous decision win. And once fights hit the mat, his world-class Brazilian jiu-jitsu was a nightmare to deal with, because he didn't use it to create openings for submissions, but for brutal ground-and-pound.

All of this carried dos Anjos to championship heights, and at UFC 185, he fulfilled his dream by dethroning then lightweight champion Anthony Pettis in a dominant unanimous decision win. He followed that up by defending the belt with a first-round TKO over Donald 'Cowboy' Cerrone at UFC on FOX 17. Unfortunately for him, he would lose the title in his next fight at UFC Fight Night 90, where Eddie Alvarez TKO'd him in round one. Since then, 'RDA' has struggled to find success. He briefly rose to interim welterweight title contention, but was run over by a prime Colby Covington at UFC 225, where 'Chaos' overwhelmed him via unanimous decision to win the belt. Afterward, dos Anjos' decline continued. He is 4-9 since 2018, on a four-fight losing streak, and bouncing back and forth between lightweight and welterweight.

To make matters worse, his fight with Alexander Hernandez at UFC 332 offered a glimpse of the old 'RDA,' at least in round one. He applied a lot of pressure and landed some good shots, but that version of him vanished in round two, where he looked slower, tired, and a sitting duck for a game Hernandez who just beat him up and TKO'd him. Outside of Mateusz Gamrot, to whom he lost via unanimous decision at UFC 299, 'RDA' has been losing to subpar fighters. He tore his ACL in round one of his UFC 308 encounter with Geoff Neal, losing via TKO and returning after a two-year surgery-ridden layoff, after which he lost to Hernandez. His losing streak also includes a unanimous decision loss to Vicente Luque at UFC Vegas 78.

Neal is 1-4 in his last five fights, Hernandez is 11-8 in the UFC, and Luque is 2-4 in his last six fights. Meanwhile, 'RDA' himself is 41 years old. He's well over-the-hill, and isn't even being used to elevate young up-and-comers anymore. He is now fighting on the early prelims against fighters who are either on the decline or just not good enough to ever even sniff the top five. It's unclear why he's still fighting. He'll never get another title shot, or even another win streak. He's just fighting to fight, and at some point enough is enough.