Mar-17-2009

Redemption is the Name of The Game for dos Anjos

By Martins Denis

In English, the last name of Brazil's Rafael dos Anjos means "from angels"; this means something celestial, something with divine power. Most don’t make reference to his last name and its meaning, but when the issue is his upcoming fight against Tyson Griffin at UFC Fight Night on April 1st - many say that he will need more than just his excellent Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu skills - he will need a miracle from heaven.

Dos Anjos and Griffin are set for the main card of the UFC’s first-ever event in Nashville, Tennessee, and for those who are following the Gracie Fusion representative's career, this fight against the protege of former heavyweight champion Randy Couture appears to be (at first glance) an insurmountable wall.

Dos Anjos simply laughs.

“If a divine power comes on fight day, that would be nice. But I don’t think this is the type of situation where your game does not match against the opponent's. I think the fight will be good, and people who have in mind that my game is not enough for Griffin are wrong and have a surprise coming. I think he will have to be careful with my reach advantage. I will hit him a lot and I will make his life complicated in the Octagon."

Still, Griffin is a specialist in haunting Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioners, and he has tools in his game that are hot to handle. Plus, he is quick and has experience in the Octagon that, combined with his striking and wrestling ability, earned him victories in the three bouts where he faced dos Anjos' fellow countrymen with BJJ backgrounds. Gleison Tibau, Thiago Tavares and Marcus Aurelio tried, but did not prevail, all dropping decisions.

"We [Brazilians with black belts in BJJ] have to deal with this situation of people thinking that we only train our original Martial Art. I train everything." Dos Anjos claims. "Watching the matches Griffin had against the three Brazilians he fought, I observed that you need to be relaxed against him. We cannot lose positions and wait for his reaction, you need to be keep going all the time. On the feet we have to capitalize on the openings and work them over to gain superiority.

"I think that if Griffin has in his mind that he already has an antidote against Jiu-Jitsu specialists, he is giving me an advantage,” he continues. “My game is totally different than the three other Brazilians he fought. Of course I do not want to sound arrogant, my game isn't better, but on the ground Griffin will not do anything to me."

From dos Anjos' UFC debut, against Jeremy Stephens at UFC 91, until his next fight on April 1st, more than five months have passed, and not only has the time never stopped, but neither have the changes in the Niteroi City native's life. A new baby, a son who took his name, Rafael, and a new focus in his career led the 24 year old to views that he would not have if he had beaten Stephens that night.

"A victory in my UFC debut would have been a present for my son, who was born two weeks after that fight," says an unhappy dos Anjos. "But when the situation is not written in the lines of destiny, it does not become reality. We do not understand - when we are in tough scenarios - the reason we are inside it, but I already got it. I had never been knocked out in my entire career and with that punch, several bad things came through. However I took positive issues from that and added them to my life. I learned a lot with the defeat. 2008 was good, I fought three times, but lost the most important fight of my career. I think I had less than six mounts of training due to the injuries I sustained. But UFC is UFC and I needed the opportunity they presented me. I have a new mind in 2009 and new conditions: no injuries, no personal problems. Now I am a family man, I have new ambitions, new goals and I do not want any defeats this year."

A student of one of the most sought-after BJJ professors in Brazil, Roberto Correa, dos Anjos felt, like a hot iron on his skin, what that defeat in his UFC debut cost. The singular number that was missed to fill a 10 fight winning streak and the kind of publicity that it generated were not in his plans. On the card's preliminary portion, the dos Anjos-Stephens bout gained "superstar" status in an unfortunate fashion for the Brazilian.

"Like I said before I managed in a tough situation to improve and grow,” he said. “My intention was to be shown on pay-per-view with a submission of the night, and look what happened. If I had got it I would have reached 10 consecutive wins, but it did not happen - my focus is to work and reach this mark again and then surpass it, the start will be against Griffin."

In that match, dos Anjos showed good ground skills, but he lost positions in a field where he dominates, the ground. And he paid for it. In the beginning of round three, a vicious uppercut delivered by Stephens sealed his destiny, and it was lights out for the BJJ black belt.

With the language barrior between English-Portuguese, fans that are not Brazilian did not realize what dos Anjos said to his cornermen between rounds two and three. A mix of worrying and lack of confidence seemed to force the fighter's concentration outside, and when you hesitate inside the Octagon, your day has everything needed to become a bad one. That was exactly what happened when Dos Anjos was caught by a Stephens right hand soon after the fact. He took the shot without any head movement or attempt to avoid the full force of impact in his foe's fist.

"I never acted like that," said dos Anjos. "I felt weird, wrong energy - whatever. I did not know what provoked me to ask about round two during the break before round three. Usually I listen to what Correa says and then I set myself in thoughts, and work in the following round. I asked them about Stephens and I do not really remember what they said to me.

“I have to confess, I was afraid, I had a huge fear of defeat. Before this fight in the UFC I had in my mind that when we lose it's all is over, and I learned that it is part of the game and we learn from it, just like I said.”

“Listen, I am not taking away anything from Stephens for that knockout - that kid punches hard. I left the cage with my forearms sore from blocking his strikes. I lost focus and he capitalized, finishing the fight. Everybody said that I should swing, try something different than staying there and eating that right hand. But as I mentioned before, winning was not written in my destiny."

From the lessons dos Anjos took from his first UFC bout to the match against Griffin, he walks a path with positive vibrations. But he is coming from a defeat just like his adversary is (against Sean Sherk at UFC 90 last October) and the responsibility to erase the last setback with a good performance is an ordeal for both. Then, how will you manage it, in order to leave the Octagon with a glorious victory and not another loss?

"This situation increases the will power,” said dos Anjos. “Not only mine, his too. This responsibility will make the fight more exciting for the fans, because we both need a win. I realized in his last fight that he had a great match because he wanted to prove the fight would not be a wrestling duel. I think Griffin is a complete MMA fighter but he's very different than I am when the issue is the finish. I never step in the Octagon to win by judge's decision; my objective is to put an end to my opponent, while he likes to score points. He is intelligent with this tactic but he will need to open his game more, because I am going with my all. He has never been knocked out or submitted, and before my last fight I was never knocked out, so there is a first time for everything in our lives. I am going to finish him for the first time in his career."