CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - JUNE 09: Rafael Dos Anjos of Brazil is introduced in his corner prior to facing Colby Covington in their interim welterweight title fight during the UFC 225 event at the United Center on June 9, 2018 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)

Rafael dos Anjos says he’s doubled his sparring to prepare for Kamaru Usman in an attempt at getting another shot at the welterweight title.

Former UFC lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos has his eyes on becoming the welterweight champion, but he must first get through Kamaru Usman at The Ultimate Fighter 28 finale for another chance at the belt.

Dos Anjos believes that a victory over Usman, who is on a 12 fight win streak, would make him next in line to face the welterweight king.

He has been working hard, harder than he has for other fights, by upping his sparring time and increasing his training sessions.

“I have great guys around me,” dos Anjos told FanSided. “Good grapplers… and I am focused on my sparring. I have been doing 10 rounds of sparing a week with the high-level guys at RVCA. I feel great. In my last fight I didn’t show up, I didn’t perform well. It wasn’t my night. Everything will be different on Friday. I had a great camp, everything happened well and I am ready to show everyone I have what it takes to be champion.”

Dos Anjos says he’s sparring with men like Aaron Pico, Jake Ellenberger and Moses Murrietta, among others, more than he ever has for previous camps.

“I upped it,” he said. “Usually I do sparring once a week on either Thursday or Friday, but this time I was doing it twice a week, to increase the rhythm. With the small gloves and with the big gloves. I did more sparring, I doubled it. I’ve also gotten help with my wrestling. We have a lot of tough guys at RVCA, coming up guys and I have a great team behind me.”

The former champion is aware that his shot at the title is dependant on what the UFC wants to do, but he believes he’s the next logical person for the shot.

“Looking back on the rankings, the guys who are ahead of me, I have fought already. I think Colby [Covington] will fight [Tyron] Woodley and Darren Till is not in the division anymore. So looking to the rankings I think Usman will be the guy that if I beat him, I will be getting put back in the title picture. That’s why I took the fight with him because looking at the rankings he’s the only one who could put me back in the title picture.”

He knows that in order to climb back up, he must first go through Usman.

“I’m going for the finish. I never step into a fight thinking I will go to decision,” he said. “Sometimes it goes the distance but I always try to finish. I hope it’s not going five rounds. I trained to finish that fight, but anything can happen and it’s hard to have a prediction but I know I’m going to win.”

The Ultimate Fighter 28 finale will take place on Friday, Nov. 30, 2018, live from Las Vegas, NV. FanSided will be in attendance, so follow along on fight night for full results, highlights and exclusive content.