Sherdog’s Top 10: Lightweights of All-Time

8. Rafael dos Anjos

No one foresaw his climb to the top of the lightweight mountain. Dos Anjos transformed himself from borderline-journeyman to pound-for-pound A-lister with a remarkable 11-fight run -- he went 10-1, losing only to Khabib Nurmagomedov -- from May 15, 2012 to Dec. 19, 2015. Honing his skills under Kings MMA taskmaster Rafael Cordeiro, he paired a sharpened standup attack with world-class grappling chops and entered his 30s as one of MMA’s premier fighters. Dos Anjos laid claim to the lightweight throne with a five-round drubbing of Anthony Pettis at UFC 185 and then retained it with a 66-second finish on Donald Cerrone nine months later. No stranger to adversity, he offset losses to Jeremy Stephens, Tyson Griffin, Clay Guida and Gleison Tibau with victories over Cerrone (twice), Pettis, Nate Diaz and Benson Henderson. Dos Anjos will write the next chapter of his career as a welterweight, having announced a move to 170 pounds following consecutive defeats to Eddie Alvarez and Tony Ferguson.

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