Rafael dos Anjos

By FCF Staff

Khabib Nurmagomedov returned to the Octagon for the first time in  two years earlier this month, and scored a victory, but lightweight champ Rafael dos Anjos didn’t think much of his performance.

Nurmagomedov took on Darrell Horcher at UFC on FOX 19, who was stepping in on short notice for the injured Tony Ferguson. The undefeated Nurmagomedov took control of the bout in round one, and finished Horcher in round two with ground-and-pound strikes. The win marked the first time the vaunted grappler had fought since April, 2014, when he decisioned dos Anjos.

Recently RDA spoke with MMA Fighting.com, and he was asked to evaluate his former opponent’s performance. The lightweight champ had this to say:

“I was not even a little impressed,” dos Anjos said. “He fought a guy who has a full-time job and took the fight on a week’s notice. After the first minute, with all due respect, (Horcher) looked pink, completely out of shape, and (Khabib) still needed almost two rounds to finish the fight.

“…When I lost to Khabib, I was ranked No. 5 or 6 and many things have changed since. He beat a guy who has a full-time job, and I beat Jason High, Ben Henderson, Nate Diaz, Anthony Pettis and Donald Cerrone.”

Dos Anjos is scheduled to fight Eddie Alvarez on July 7th, at a UFC Fight Night card in Las Vegas.