Rafael dos Anjos Wasn’t Impressed With Eddie Alvarez’s Win over Anthony Pettis

Rafael dos Anjos spoke with MMA Fighting about his fight with Eddie Alvarez on UFC Fight Night 90. Some highlights are below:

On Alvarez: “He’s a dangerous fighter, has heavy hands. We know how hard it is to earn a shot at the title in the lightweight division, and he’s done it. He’s motivated, but so am I. I don’t want to lose what I’ve won. Let’s go for a war.”

On Alvarez’s win over Anthony Pettis: “His performance didn’t impress me that much. He has done better fights in the past. It was a conservative fight, he fought to win. The fight didn’t go as exciting as everybody expected, so his win didn’t impress me that much. You’re competing against the elite of the sport in the UFC. His UFC debut was against (Donald) Cerrone, and look what Cerrone did to him. The first round was close, (Alvarez) won, but Cerrone was way better in the next rounds.”

On his advantage over Alvarez: “I believe I’m more used to fighting in the Octagon, and I will impose my game and show the world why I’m the champion. I’m here to stay. Now that I’ve achieved my goal to win the belt, I want to be the best of all times. I want to be remembered as the lightweight with most title defenses.”

On wanting to finish Alvarez: “I train to fight five rounds, but if we can end the fight in the first round, it’s even better. I’m training to be ready for five rounds, but I don’t get paid per minute. I’m there to finish it as soon as possible. I haven’t submitted an opponent in a while now. I would like to submit him, but it’s a fight. I will take every opportunity. But I don’t think it will go the distance, it’s going to be a convincing victory.”

On fighting on the Fight Pass card: “I don’t think I’m being devalued for fighting on Fight Pass. Anderson Silva, one of the best of all times, just fought on Fight Pass. I get paid the same money if I’m fighting on pay-per-view or on Fight Pass, and Fight Pass is just getting started. It’s the future. The internet, many people watch it. The UFC is investing a lot on it and it has everything to grow, and I believe that putting me on Fight Pass shows that they believe I will bring more people to Fight Pass. I’m happy to help the growth of Fight Pass, but it doesn’t really matter where I’m fighting. UFC 200, Fight Pass, I just want to do my job defend my belt.”