It took Rafael dos Anjos 18 fights and almost seven years to earn his first shot at a UFC belt.

The wait, however, paid off. After dominantly upsetting Anthony Pettis, dos Anjos got a taste of gold. Now, as he makes his way through a whole new division at 170 pounds, the former lightweight titleholder is confident he can do it again. Only this time, a little – or maybe a lot – faster.

“Now, as an ex-champ, I think the path is shorter,” dos Anjos told MMAjunkie. “Demian (Maia) just had his shot at the belt and couldn’t get it. Tyron Woodley defended it. (Donald) Cerrone’s fight with (ex-champ) Robbie Lawler – I thought Cerrone won, but it was tough. In my opinion, Lawler wasn’t convincing, so I think that fight removed him from a possible title rematch. (Jorge) Masvidal lost to Demian.

“Stephen Thompson will probably fight Masvidal and had two title fights already. I’m behind in the rankings, but the path is kind of open. I think with a win over (Neil) Magny, considering I’m an ex-champ, I think I’m pretty close. I’m not too far.”

But first things first. Dos Anjos (26-9 MMA, 15-7 UFC) is set to continue his welterweight path next month, at UFC 215, when he meets Magny (19-5 MMA, 12-4 UFC) at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It will be the Brazilian ex-champ’s second octagon go as a 170-pounder, after a June trip to Singapore resulted in an unanimous-decision win over Tarec Saffiedine.

It may be early in his 170-pound walk, but dos Anjos sees a possible win over the ranked, battle-tested Magny as a big boost in an overall stacked division. And while his focus is now on that, he has already started planting some seeds for the not-so-distant future.

A few days ago, for instance, he took to Twitter to make sure to let champion Tyron Woodley – then fresh off his UFC 214 title defense against Demian Maia – aware of his intentions. The low-key callout, however, doesn’t mean that dos Anjos doesn’t respect him.

In fact, dos Anjos thinks Woodley is great fighter. But dos Anjos also believes he has what it takes to throw the champ off his game.

“He has that game of circling around, of not wanting to take risks,” dos Anjos said. “With me, he’s going to be at risk. I won’t let him feel comfortable. I think in his past two fights, he wasn’t in jeopardy. Stephen Thompson fought very technically and strategically. Not that I won’t use strategy and technique, but I have this (stronger) pace.

“I’ll push the pace and he’ll have to go to work. I won’t let him circle around – he’ll take me down, I’ll take him down, the fight will be a scramble. I’ll push his pace. And I think that’s when I’ll get the better of him.”

Dos Anjos pauses for a second, and then adds with a laugh.

“I think after my fight with him, people might even buy his pay-per-view.”

‘Lose one more, and everyone starts calling for your retirement’

Regardless of whom he’ll have to beat to get there, dos Anjos has a few reasons to believe he can be champion again.

First of all, despite his extensive octagon experience, dos Anjos is only 32 and sees a lot of fighting ahead of him, still. That, in turn, is helped by the fact that, after years of the depleting cut down to 155 pounds, he’s found renewed energy – as well as physical and emotional relief – from his new weight status.

And there’s also the fact that, despite a two-fight skid to start his UFC run – and some tough setbacks after them – he’s made it there once.

“I tasted it, and I know how hard it is to get there,” dos Anjos said. “I know I can do it. I know I can do it again. I have it what it takes.”

From the start, dos Anjos has been clear about how comfortable he was with the decision to move up. While it was something he’d been thinking about even while he still held the belt, the definitive call came after an ill-fated UFC Fight Night 98 meeting with Tony Ferguson – which also meant a second straight loss after the title-costing TKO to now-also-ex-champ Eddie Alvarez.

After so many years of repeating the process of dehydrating his body and exposing his head to trauma the day after, dos Anjos decided it was time to put himself – and his health – first.

“I thought, ‘I’m going to end up having a problem here,'” dos Anjos said. “I heard a lot (of criticism). ‘Oh, those guys are huge.’ So what? I don’t care. I train with welterweights everyday. I train well with all them. I’ll also be stronger, healthier and my quality of life will improve. That’s what matters.”

Dos Anjos is totally at peace with the fresh start. Not only has his training improved, but even his family life has been positively impacted by what’s ultimately a much less grueling day-to-day. But, looking back, he admits it wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows when he walked into the octagon for his 170-pound debut.

“I’m not going to lie, I felt very pressured for that last fight,” dos Anjos said. “I think I even got a little more tired than usual. I really pushed the pace of the fight, but I did get more tired because I was a little nervous. I lost the belt – and then, in my return fight, I lost. I switched divisions. You know how it goes – lose one more and everyone starts calling for your retirement. And I know I still have a lot to do.

“I was nervous. I was confident, but anxious. Thankfully, it all worked out. I’m on my way. I saw that the move to welterweight (worked). Although I’d fought in this division before the UFC, I was worried about the strength of the opponents. But I saw that, though the guys are stronger, I’m stronger too. The pressure is off.”

The keys to Neil Magny

Despite the confidence that he can make his way back to the top again, dos Anjos knows that he has a tough first step ahead, and that is Magny, who’ll return after a more than eight-month layoff – the longest of the 30-year-old fighter’s remarkably active UFC run.

Currently ranked No. 10 in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA welterweight rankings, Magny comes off a decision win over ex-champ Johny Hendricks. In his past 13 fights, he’s only lost twice – falling victim to Lorenz Larkin’s heavy blows and Maia’s well-known grappling prowess.

“He’s a good fighter,” dos Anjos analyzed. “But he doesn’t have any specialties. He’s good at everything, but he’s not excellent at anything.”

While he believes that Magny does have a good ground game, dos Anjos also thinks he may be too willing to accept it. Which, for him, has meant falling into the traps of two grappling experts – other than Maia, Magny was also finished by jiu-jitsu ace Sergio Moraes.

With that in mind, dos Anjos thinks putting his black belt skills to use may end up being a path to victory. But it’s not the only one.

“I’m going to do my usual game,” dos Anjos said. “I’m going to move forward. He has a good gas tank – he can put on a solid pace for 15 minutes. I think it will be a great fight. I’ll push the pace, too. The ground game is one way to go, but I’ll try to work my striking, too, and try to hurt him a little bit there. And, if it goes to the ground, I’ll settle it there.

“He’s long, but he doesn’t use his reach very well, from what I’ve seen. He fights with his arms closer to his body and he moves forward, chasing the fight. I like fighting taller, lankier guys like Nate Diaz, or Cerrone. I like it. Even Tarec Saffediene.”

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