UFC 185: Pettis vs. dos Anjos Preview

Anthony Pettis (right) vs. Benson Henderson. Pic by USA TODAY Sports. Credit: Benny Sieu

Tomorrow the UFC heads to Dallas, Texas. The event has a double title headliner with a stacked under card:

Anthony Pettis vs. Rafael dos Anjos

The main event of UFC 185 features one of the more underrated UFC champions due to his inactivity.

While no one can deny that Anthony Pettis is one of the most athletic fighters on the UFC roster, he hasn’t seen too much action in recent years due to injuries. However, he has a lot of momentum going for him after coming off of a December title defense against Gilbert Melendez.

Rafael dos Anjos has come in under the radar in order to earn this title fight. He is just coming off of a spectacular performance against Nate Diaz in December and before that pulled an upset knockout against former lightweight champion Benson Henderson. The question now is whether dos Anjos can pull another upset against Pettis.

Carla Esparza vs. Joanna Jedrzejczyk

This match is a fight that will define a division.

Carla Esparza had to fight through the historic season 20 of The Ultimate Fighter in order to win the inaugural UFC Women’s Strawweight Championship. This will be her first title defense and before her time in the TUF house, Esparza was the Invicta FC Strawweight Champion. She is essentially setting the bar for this women’s division.

In looking to make history, Joanna Jedrzejczyk is looking to pull an upset against Esparza. The undefeated challenger was one of the view women’s strawweights to compete in the UFC during the broadcasting of TUF 20.

Johny Hendricks vs. Matt Brown

Needless to say this match is all about redemption and rebounding.

Johny Hendricks just lost the welterweight title in a close match against Robbie Lawler. This is a tough break for “Big Rigg” as it’s the second controversial decision that Hendricks has lost in three fights.

Matt Brown is also coming off of a loss to Robbie Lawler but it was for the title shot against Hendricks. Prior to this Brown had won seven fights in a row across two years.

The rest of the card:

Heavyweight Roy Nelson vs. Alistair Overeem
Flyweight Chris Cariaso vs. Henry Cejudo
Lightweight Ross Pearson vs. Sam Stout
Middleweight Elias Theodorou vs. Roger Narvaez
Catchweight (157 lbs) Daron Cruickshank vs. Beneil Dariush
Heavyweight Jared Rosholt vs. Josh Copeland
Flyweight Sergio Pettis vs. Ryan Benoit
Lightweight Jake Lindsey vs. Joseph Duffy
Women’s Bantamweight Larissa Pacheco vs. Germaine de Randamie

Matthew Salzer
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