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The year in the UFC is coming to a close and it has meant a huge shift in the championships held throughout the promotion.
Some of the most dominant champions have all fallen this year with Ronda Rousey, Jose Aldo, and Chris Weidman have all losing within the last few months.
The UFC heads into a new era when 2016 begins as new champions have created a very exciting new year for the promotion.
New champions will all begin their time at the top in 2016 with some planning on taking more than one title by the time 2016 is over.
The year will not end with a dominant champion falling though as the last big fight of the year features the least dominant division in the UFC.
The lightweight division hasn’t had a dominant champion in years which makes it the best division in the entire promotion.
It is a division where the real work begins at the moment a fighter wins the title rather than working their way to the top of the division.
In many divisions a dominant champion has cleaned out much of the division leaving fighters far away from a title fight or switching divisions to find success somewhere else.
That isn’t the case in the lightweight division as a champion earns the title only to turn around and see any number of fighters waiting for their shot.
No one fighter has been able to clean out the division because they are not champions for long enough with the amount of talent coming to get them.
It takes plenty to work their way through that contenders in the division but then once they are the champion they become the target of some of the best fighters.
That is the true challenge in the lightweight division and that challenge has now fallen upon Rafael dos Anjos who beat Anthony Pettis earlier this year to become the fourth lightweight champion in the last five years.
No comes his challenge as he must attempt to go through an almost endless list of challengers in an attempt to clear out the division.
It won’t start easily either as his first defence will be against a man that has waited for years to get his shot in Donald Cerrone.
He is the current holder of the longest active win streak in the UFC winning all of his last eight fights.
He has only lost three fights since he entered the UFC in 2011 and has been one of the top contenders in the UFC since that time.
Now he gets his shot and it will come with what he hopes to be a little bit of revenge.
His last loss came in 2013 against the champion himself in what was a difficult period for one of the best lightweights in the UFC.
The first meeting between these two fighters was in no way a dominant win for dos Anjos but it was a convincing win.
The now champion was able to get the bigger shots and takedowns while Cerrone landed his own shots and attempted multiple submissions but couldn’t finish the fight.
It ended with a unanimous decision win for dos Anjos who went on to the title while Cerrone re-evaluated the way he had been running his camp.
It was a period where Cerrone changed his focus and lost two of three fights but after the loss to dos Anjos he went back to what he found successful and hasn’t lost a fight since.
Now these two face-off for a second time and both are better than the time they faced off in 2013.
They are both balanced fighters that bring slightly different skillsets to the octagon but can both do just about everything.
Cerrone prefers to stand and use his great striking but he has the ability to submit anyone from just about anywhere as he showed against dos Anjos when he attempted multiple submissions from his back.
Jiu Jitsu is what dos Anjos brings to the octagon as he is great on the mat but during his title run he showed that he has the power to knockout his opponents as well.
With both fighters that much better it should be a good fight and for dos Anjos it is a tough challenge in his first defence as the lightweight champion.
So tough in fact that he might not defend his title as Cerrone is sure to take advantage of an opportunity that he has been waiting for since he entered the UFC.
Cerrone is a much better fighter than when they faced off last time and although dos Anjos is improved as well the transition of the lightweight division will only continue with another new champion to close out 2015.
The Sport Addiction 