The reigning UFC lightweight champion puts his title on the line July 7 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, but Rafael dos Anjos’ road to the top of the world started in 1993.
Dos Anjos was no different than any other kid in Fonseca, a traditional district in Niteroi, Brazil. A few miles away from the bridge that connects the city to Rio de Janeiro, he was a hyperactive boy who got interested in martial arts at eight years old. He'd watched his cousin Rodrigo Souza train capoeira at the Henrique Lage school, but it was seeing kids grapple over in his neighborhood that caught his attention.