Khabib Nurmagomedov, who Dana White recently dubbed the man nobody wanted to fight, finally has an opponent. The rising Russian star will now step in to fight Rafael Dos Anjos at UFC On FOX 11 on April 19th.
Dos Anjos was originally slated to be fighting another talented Russian, Rustam Khabilov at UFC 170, but after he got injured UFC officials to make this switch in both opponent and event.
Nurmagomedov is currently on a five fight winning streak since joining the UFC in January of 2012, and in fact is unbeaten in his 21 fight career to date which has marked him out as one of the leading lights at 155lbs heading into 2014.
Dos Anjos can also boast five straight victories in a row too, most recently besting Donald Cerrone by decision back in August of last year.
Nurmagomedov and Dos Anjos are currently rubbing shoulders in the lightweight rankings, coming in at 7th and 6th respectively, so when all is said and done it appears as if this bout change has actually worked in the UFC’s favor as these two lightweights are perfectly matched at this moment in time.
The fight is now expected to land on the main card of the next FOX show which will be headlined by a heavyweight No.1 contender bout between Travis Browne and Fabricio Werdum, with Miesha Tate Vs Liz Carmouche and Donald Cerrone Vs Edson Barboza also joining Nurmagomedov Vs Dos Anjos on the televised portion of the card.
On paper this isn’t the most star-studded event the UFC has put on FOX so far, but if well matched, intriguing and potentially entertaining encounters are your thing then this line-up will surely get a big thumbs up.
