An unfortunate injury ended Rafael dos Anjos’ night at UFC 308 when his knee buckled under his weight in the first round against Geoff Neal.
RDA came into this, his 36th fight in the promotion, after losing his last fight; that loss came at lightweight and the one before that at welterweight
Now, he returned to welterweight in a perplexing matchup. After losing to low-ranked welterweight Vicente Luque he got a chance against top lightweight Mateusz Gamrot.
So why did he get another ranked welterweight, ranked higher than the one he faced last time?
The worst part of the whole saga is that today, October 26th 2024, is Rafael dos Anjos’ 40th birthday. He had little hope of having a happy birthday as more than a two-to-one underdog against a bigger and younger fighter.
Indeed, dos Anjos did get knocked down early in the first round by Neal. His veteran savvy and grit got him back to his feet, but he appeared uncertain, got taken down, and then had his knee buckle in an exchange where he otherwise took no damage.
This may spell the end for RDA. If it is an ACL tear, which seems likely for a non-contact injury in the knee, then he will have at least nine months of rehabilitation. Having lost nine of his last thirteen and three of his last four, dos Anjos should seriously consider retirement.
It would be unfortunate to end it this way, but it would be more unfortunate for a 40 year old man to take unnecessary brain and body damage.
Geoff Neal defeats Rafael dos Anjos in round 1 #UFC308 pic.twitter.com/ftJ8Z43YAO
— Haduucken (@Haduuuucken) October 26, 2024
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