Rafael dos Anjos decided to move up to welterweight after losing two in a row in the UFC, but struggling to make 155 pounds was the main reason he decided to stop cutting so much weight.
The 32-year-old Brazilian lost the UFC lightweight belt to Eddie Alvarez last July, and confirmed a story recently told by UFC commentator Joe Rogan that he passed out prior to the UFC Fight Night 90 main event.
"I passed out in the bathtub, in the hot tub. I was out for like almost three minutes,” dos Anjos said on Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour. "My coaches were about to call 911 and cancel the fight because I was out on my bed, and they put some ice on my chest, and then I woke up and stayed on my bed for one hour.”
In the end, dos Anjos made weight and the fight was official, but he ended up losing by first-round knockout.
"We thought about cancelling the fight but I'm a fighter, I don't wanna upset the fans,” dos Anjos said. "But thinking back right now, I shouldn't make that fight because today guys all the time kind of don't fight because they have weight problems. Khabib (Nurmagomedov), the other day, he didn't make the fight with (Tony) Ferguson because he had some issues, but it's fine. That’s past. Now a new division, a new life."
Despite the struggle in July, dos Anjos stayed at lightweight for one more fight. He thought small changes in his weight cut would be enough to avoid trouble, but it wasn’t enough to convince him to stay at that weight class.
dos Anjos went back inside the Octagon four months after his loss to Alvarez to headline the UFC Fight Night 98 card in Mexico against Tony Ferguson, but lost via unanimous decision.
After that fight, the former UFC champion knew he was done fighting at 155 pounds.
"I said man, God makes everything the right time,” dos Anjos said. "Maybe if I won that fight, I'd still be killing myself to make 155. Then I lost two in a row and I decided to change, but after the fight I knew.”