Saturday night on the prelims of UFC 299, we are going to see a very intriguing matchup in the lightweight division. Former lightweight champion Rafael Dos Anjos (32-15) is once again returning to the division where he became a champion and he’s taking on top contender Mateusz Gamrot (23-2).
Starting with RDA, this will be his first lightweight fight in nearly two years. His last two fights came at welterweight. Back in 2020 after a loss to Michael Chiesa at 170, Dos Anjos moved down to 155 for one more run at the title. After defeating Paul Felder and Renato Moicano, he was only a couple of wins away from getting a shot.
Then, he was knocked out by Rafael Fiziev in the fifth round of their main event. Following that loss, RDA said he just wanted to take on tough fights wherever they are for the rest of his career without worrying about weight classes. He split his last two fights at 170 before returning to face Gamrot at 155.
Mateusz Gamrot lost his UFC debut and then won four big fights in a row including a win over top contender Arman Tsarukyan. That earned him a fight with Beneil Dariush which he lost by decision. Since then, he’s won two straight against Jalin Turner and Rafael Fiziev. With a win tomorrow night, he’s hoping to be in title contention at 155.
UFC 299 Prediction
This is going to be a very fascinating fight and I’m curious to see the game plan from the former champion. On paper, he definitely has the striking advantage, but in recent years, we’ve seen him lean heavily on his wrestling. However, he cannot get into a grappling matchup with Gamrot.
Gamrot is an elite grappler and is going to hold the grappling advantage virtually everywhere on Saturday night. With that, I expect RDA to look to keep this fight standing and strike with Gamrot. Can he do that over the course of three rounds? I think he will be able to keep it standing for a bit, but ultimately, I think Gamrot wears him down.
Especially in rounds two and three, I think we see a grappling clinic from Gamrot with lots of control. Ultimately, this will lead to a decision win at UFC 299 giving Gamrot his third straight win inside the octagon.
Prediction: Mateusz Gamrot by Decision