The best and worst from UFC Fight Night 166: Blaydes vs. Dos Santos

#2 Worst: Where does Dos Anjos go from here?

Rafael Dos Anjos has struggled with the grappling of the UFC's bigger Welterweights

Junior Dos Santos might’ve edged closer to retirement with his loss to Curtis Blaydes, but the biggest loser last night was probably Rafael Dos Anjos. There’s no shame in a loss to a fighter as good as Michael Chiesa, but the problem for ‘RDA’ is that we’ve seen him lose in that way so many times now that it’s hard to work out where he goes next.

Dos Anjos – a highly credentialed grappler with plenty of submissions to his name – was outwrestled and outgrappled by a bigger, stronger foe last night, and to make matters worse it was the fourth time in his last five fights that it’d happened. The former UFC Lightweight champion isn’t past his prime or anything like that, but he clearly has a problem.

Essentially, the Brazilian is too small to compete with the physical monsters at 170 lbs, but he’s also too big to cut back down to 155 lbs. A 165 lbs division might be perfect for him, but at the minute, the UFC doesn’t seem interested in that.

So what should he do? It sounds odd, but perhaps some smarter choices in terms of opponents would work; as a former champion, Dos Anjos likely has some sway with the UFC’s matchmaking team. For his own sake – and to stop him sliding into irrelevancy – it might be an idea to ask for a striker, rather than a strong wrestler, as his next opponent.

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#3 Best: Angela Hill’s developing ground game

Angela Hill's ground game looked much improved in her win over Hannah Cifers

Angela Hill came into her strawweight fight with Hannah Cifers as a betting favorite, mainly due to the fact that she’s a tremendous technical striker while Cifers was recognized as more of a brawler. And indeed, ‘Overkill’ came out on top via TKO, but the way she did it was a bit of a surprise and was impressive, too.

Hill has never been known for her ground game – in fact, she’s struggled there and the majority of her UFC losses have come against grapplers – but last night she stunned everyone by tripping Cifers to the ground and getting into top position. And from there, ‘Overkill’ sliced through her opponent’s guard, found a dominant position and worked her over with punches and elbows until the fight was stopped.

The finish received boos from the crowd, but only because Cifers was a hometown favorite. Outside of that, this was a tremendous showing from Hill and one that suggests she might have more to offer to the 115lbs division other than being a recognizable name and an action fighter. We shall see on that front, but it’s always nice to see improvements from a veteran nonetheless.