One To Watch: Tarec Saffiedine vs. Rafael dos Anjos

UFC Fight Night: Holm vs. Correia, otherwise known as UFC Fight Night 111, will signal the fourth UFC event to take place in four consecutive weekends when the promotion rolls into Singapore Indoor Stadium in Kallang, Singapore on Saturday—the UFC's second visit to the country following UFC Fight Night: Saffiedine vs. Lim in January 2014.

The event, starting early on Saturday morning for those in the USA and Europe, will be headlined by what should be a rather uncompetitive bantamweight contest between Holly Holm and Bethe Correia, while there are several fun fights evenly dispersed on the card throughout, including: Andrei Arlovski vs. Marcin Tybura, Dong Hyun Kim vs. Colby Covington, Takanori Gomi vs. Jon Tuck, Justin Scoggins vs. Ulka Sasaki and Alex Caceres vs. Rolando Dy.

But it's the fight between Tarec Saffiedine and Rafael dos Anjos which looks the most promising on paper. Opening the main card portion of this card—all of which will be viewable on UFC Fight Pass—Saffiedine, who was Strikeforce's final welterweight titleholder, will be hoping to overcome his two-fight skid against former UFC lightweight champion dos Anjos, who will be making his debut at welterweight on Saturday.

Saffiedine's UFC run hasn't been as fruitful as his time in Strikeforce thus far. Only aged 30, Saffiedine has some wear and tear on his body, which has meant he has missed out on valuable Octagon time since joining the UFC roster in 2013. The Belgian's UFC record presently stands at 2-3, which pales in comparison to his 6-1 Strikeforce run and only saw him lose to current UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley by unanimous decision.

Still, as alluded to previously, Singapore is a good hunting ground for Saffiedine. The Team Quest product, now training at Tristar, kicked off his UFC tenure with an enthralling back-and-forth decision win over giant Korean welterweight Lim at the Marina Bay Sands over three years ago. Saffiedine will be hoping to recapture that form on Saturday morning.

Like his opponent, dos Anjos hasn't enjoyed the best of times in the cage since capturing championship gold. After suffering a smothering unanimous decision loss to perennial lightweight contender Khabib Nurmagomedov, dos Anjos embarked on a run of impressive victories—toppling the likes of Jason High, former UFC champion Benson Henderson and Nate Diaz. This was enough to earn dos Anjos a crack at Anthony Pettis' UFC title and he happily embraced said opportunity, bullying his way to a dominant unanimous decision win over the then-champion.

Nine months later, dos Anjos defended his UFC championship for the first time, crushing Donald Cerrone in just a minute with a brutal liver kick, before closing proceedings with a flurry of accurate punches. Dos Anjos' win over Cerrone capped off a remarkable rise to the top from a position of mid-card obscurity, but his subsequent fall from grace from the Octagon is perhaps more mystifying.

After commanding victories over top-level opponents in Cerrone and Pettis, dos Anjos was expected to rule the lightweight division for the foreseeable future. Next up for the Brazilian was Eddie Alvarez, who did not allow dos Anjos to settle and established himself as the pressure fighter—a role "RDA" relishes inside the cage. Despite being a 1-3 favourite entering the fight, dos Anjos lost via TKO to Philadelphian Alvarez inside four minutes, the latter prising the title away from RDA's deceptively weakened grasp. Wanting to get back into the swing of things quickly, dos Anjos fought Tony Ferguson just four months later, but was on the receiving end of five rounds filled with punches, kicks and mockery from his opponent, losing a second fight in a row.

Dos Anjos soon announced he was to abandon the lightweight division to seek pastures new at welterweight's limit of 170lbs, claiming he passed just three minutes before heading out to fight Alvarez in his ill-fated title defence thanks to the effects of a gruelling weight cut. Saffiedine, also on a two-fight losing streak, appears to be the perfect opponent to welcome dos Anjos to the world of welterweights.

Saffiedine is the crisp, technical striker who flourishes when fighting at an established range but has solid wrestling to keep the fight standing after spending so many years training with Team Quest and now Tristar. Also, if you like leg kicks which do damage, Saffiedine is a fighter to watch. Meanwhile, dos Anjos likes to close the distance and throw power strikes inside the pocket when on the feet—otherwise, he has a world class grappling game to keep opponents wary.

These varying fighting styles, on top of the fact both men have their proverbial backs against the wall while sitting on two-fight losing streaks after enjoying championship gold, makes this fight a must-see. Make sure you don't miss it.