Rafael dos Anjos (RDA) is arguably the best lightweight fighter the UFC has ever seen – the argument against, of course, is the existence of Khabib Nurmagomedov – but at this point in his career, it looks as if his toughest opponent is himself.

Since arriving in the UFC at the end of 2008, he's fought multiple times per year and gone on five fight win streaks against top fighters such as Benson Henderson, Cowboy Cerrone and Nate Diaz, constantly improving until he hit an opponent he couldn't match – and then he would come back even better the next time.

That made it extra surprising when, upon finally winning the UFC lightweight championship from Anthony Pettis at UFC 185 on March 14, 2015, he lost the belt only two fights and barely a year later in an unexpected mauling by Eddie Alvarez at UFC Fight Night: dos Anjos vs. Alvarez on July 7, 2016.

The UFC doesn't give tune-up fights but it does offer fighters a selection of opponents. RDA could have gone for an easy route back to the belt, instead he fought a red hot Tony Ferguson, at that point on an eight-fight win streak.

Even these two monumental losses back to back weren't enough to make RDA stop pushing himself as he then moved up a weight class to welterweight. Between 2017 and January 2020, he fought an insane eight times against opponents visibly bigger and stronger than he is and came away with a 4-4 record. It's a situation that manages to be both impressive and disappointing at the same time, especially when the split shows he only won one of his last five bouts.

At age 36 and 42 matches into his career, it made sense to move back down to his natural weight and try for one last run at the strap. As per usual, he was booked against a monster, in this case Khabib Nurmagomedov's lifelong friend and training partner, Islam Makhachaev, who is currently on a five-fight win streak and has an overall record of 18-1. It was perhaps a blessing in disguise then that on October 8, Makhachaev tested positive for COVID-19 and, while recovering, injured himself and so had to pull out on November 8 – one week ahead of the fight.

Enter Paul Felder. A tough, no frills fighter who entered the bout with a respectable 17-5 record. What makes his appearance strange, however, is following his last fight, a loss to Dan Hooker in a genuine Fight of the Year contender in February, Felder spoke of moving into semi-retirement and has since become a commentator for the UFC; there's even scuttlebutt that Felder was only in fight condition because he's been training for a triathlon.

If looked like RDA's first easy shift in years – and then the opening bell rung. From the first moment of the main event, this was a scrap, like a high-level game of "Dead or Alive' on the Xbox, the two men barely left each other's range and tried blows and parries with lightning quick speed and accuracy.

RDA would throw a left jab and Felder would step in with an elbow and RDA would respond with two or three more blows of his own. RDA had spent his whole fight camp preparing for a grappler in Makhachaev but he didn't look out of place against a a karate fighter in Felder; likewise, Felder did not look like a man who had spent the bulk of the year wearing a suit at ringside.

It was only in Round 3 that RDA began to pull away. He had spent the fight striking and only shooting for takedowns when Felder got his back towards the cage; here, he flipped the script and forced Felder into the cage and actively hunted for takedowns with his exceptional Brazilian jiu-jitsu.

Felder, for his part, ground it out, save for two hard slams that gave RDA the definite advantage. By the time the fight reached the championship rounds, all the grappling defense had sapped his energy. His high-level martial arts had devolved to human rock 'em sock 'em robots and, to his credit, he dragged RDA into the brawl with him. He ultimately inflicted enough damage with his close elbows and hooks that RDA couldn't slam him again, but even so, RDA remained a step ahead.

When the final bell rang, the judges awarded the fight to Rafael dos Anjos by split decision (48-47, 45-50, 45-50). RDA clearly won the fight; however, what was expected to be a walkover ended up being a nail-biter, so as with Kamaru Usman vs. Jorge Masvidal – another bout where a late replacement went the distance – the loser, Paul Felder, came out the other side clearly winning the story. Semi-retired and without a fight camp, Felder went five blood-and-guts rounds with a true legend in a performance worthy of Rocky Balboa. He even won according to one judge. If this doesn't fire him up for a full-time return, nothing will.