Rafael dos Anjos used his superior mat work to get the better of Bryan Barberena tonight at UFC On ESPN 42, culminating in a second round rear-naked choke finish.
Round One:
Leg kick for Barberena and then misses on a high kick. He lands a body kick. Winging hooks from Barberena. Now repeatedy body kicks without too much power behind them.
RDA in on a takedown attempt and walks Barberena over to the cage. Barberena staying upright for now though, but RDA stays patient and eventually does sweep his leg out to land the takedown and end up in half-guard.
RDA working for an arm triangle now. It’s quite tight but they are parallel to the cage and he can’t get over to the side to finish the move.
Dos Anjos opting to land heavy punches to the body now to soften up his opponent. RDA giving up on the submission for now but is in full mount. Not for long though as Barberena gets him back to half-guard.
RDA steps back into mount. Barberena starting to give up his back. He gets to his knees, but dos Anjos stays tight to him and keeps the fight on the mat until the horn sounds.
Round Two:
Barberena with body kicks. RDA looking to counter with punches, but Barberena wades forward with hooks of his own and they clinch up.
Barberena pressing RDA into the cage. Now he looks to move away, but RDA goes straight back into the clinch and is working for a takedown. He gets Barberena to his knees, but can’t quite get him all the way down and he stands back up.
Undeterred, RDA pulls his legs out from underneath him to land a takedown. Barberena quickly back up, but dos Anjos trips him to the mat again and is now in half-guard.
Barberena gets him back to full guard now with half the round remaining. He moves back to half-guard and RDA was thinking about setting up a submission for a moment.
Barberena gives up his back and RDA gladly takes it. RDA working for a rear-naked choke and pulls Barberena down onto him as he cranks on this submission and forces the tapout at 3.20mins of the second round!
