Former lightweight champ campaigns for a fight at UFC Austin in December, "game" to fight Dustin Poirier

Former UFC lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos wants to fight Dustin Poirier before the end of 2023.

The UFC will end the calendar year with most of its events outside of Las Vegas. On December 2, a non-pay-per-view fight card will go down inside the Moody Center in Austin, Texas.

Since there is no official main event, Dos Anjos hopes to headline the event in his hometown. The 38-year-old Brazilian had this to say on Twitter:

“December 2nd, UFC in my hometown Austin TX. Get me on the show! @ufc”

When a fan expressed their interest in seeing Dos Anjos fight Poirier on December 2, the former lightweight champion responded:

“I’m game”

Rafael dos Anjos last fought on August 12 in the main event of a Fight Night. He took on fellow Brazilian Vicente Luque in an action-packed matchup that went the distance. Once the dust settled, Luque emerged victorious by unanimous decision.

As for Dustin Poirier, he’s coming off a pay-per-view main event against Justin Gaethje on July 29. Despite an impressive start, Poirier was on the wrong end of a second-round head-kick knockout. It’s unclear when and who he wants to fight next.

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Rafael dos Anjos calls out UFC lightweight king Islam Makhachev for “talking sh*t” about Jon Jones

On Saturday, October 21, Islam Makhachev will defend his lightweight title in a short-notice rematch against Alexander Volkanovski. Earlier this week, Makhachev discussed why he accepted the short-notice replacement during his media day interview.

Makhachev claimed a champion should always be ready to accept a challenge. He also called out Jon Jones for not doing the same despite being the number one ranked pound-for-pound fighter. Since then, Jones and other members of the MMA community responded with backlash toward Makhachev’s comments.

Rafael dos Anjos addressed the situation by saying this on Twitter:

“You gotta pullout like a real champion . Guy has on title defense and talking sh*t on MMA GOAT like Jon Jones.”

Rafael dos Anjos backed up his callout by attaching a video of Dana White claiming Islam Makhachve turned down a short-notice fight against him. The two top-tier lightweights were close to being scheduled for an Octagon meeting in 2022.