Michael Chiesa took a big step tonight towards the welterweight title shot mix, as the former lightweight out grappled Rafael dos Anjos in the co-headliner of UFC Raleigh.
RDA came out pressuring to begin the fight and early on he dug to the body with a massive right. Chiesa came charging back, however, and clinched up. Chiesa took RDA’s back and then took the fight down. From there, the American started hunting for a choke but RDA defended. Moments later dos Anjos spun out and up to his feet. RDA fired a couple of kicks before Chiesa briefly took him down again.
Chiesa came out aggressively in round two and started hunting for the clinch. RDA squashed the first couple of attempts and planted a couple of hard calf kicks. A battle long the cage ensued and on the break, RDA scored with a couple more kicks. Chiesa charged in at the four minute mark and took RDA down. Before the round ended, however, dos Anjos had got back to his feet.
Chiesa scored with a left early on, clinched up and swept RDA to the floor. The latter briefly looked at a knee bar but Chiesa defended and started hunting for an armlock. Dos Anjos worked his way out, however and the ground battle continued. Chiesa maintained the top position for a couple of minutes and scored with some punches to the body. RDA looked to sweep in the final minute but Chiesa stayed on top.
After the final horn there was little doubt Chiesa would be awarded the win and he was. The “Maverick” cut a quick promo after his win, as he promptly called out Colby Covington and walked out of the cage.
Chiesa (17-4) has won three straight now since moving up to the welterweight division.
Here are the complete results so far for UFC Raleigh, which is being hosted by the city’s PNC Arena.
Michael Chiesa def. Rafael Dos Anjos via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
Alex Perez def. Jordan Espinosa via technical submission (arm-triangle-choke) R1, 2:33
Angela Hill def. Hannah Cifers via TKO (strikes) R2, 4:26
Jamahal Hill def. Darko Stosic via unanimous decision (29-27, 29-27, 29-27)
Bevon Lewis def. Dequan Townsend via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Arnold Allen def. Nik Lentz via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
Justine Kish def. Lucie Pudilova via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Montel Jackson def. Felipe Colares via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-25)
Sara McMann def. Lina Lansberg via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-26, 30-25)
Brett Johns def. Tony Gravely via submission (rear-naked choke) – R3, 2:53
Herbert Burns def. Nate Landwehr via knockout (knee and punches) – R1, 2:43
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