Sherdog.com’s 2014 Breakthrough Fighter of the Year

3. Rafael dos Anjos

At the onset of 2014, dos Anjos was already one of the sport’s premier lightweights. Throughout the course of the year, the Brazilian established himself as perhaps the most dangerous contender to UFC champion Anthony Pettis’ 155-pound belt.

A Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt, dos Anjos has done some of his most impressive work over the past few years with his ever-improving standup. Even with wins over Donald Cerrone and Evan Dunham in 2013, the Rio de Janeiro native’s signature victory was still to come. In August, dos Anjos became the first man to knock out former champion Benson Henderson inside the Octagon. He followed that with a sensational showing against Nate Diaz in December, in which dos Anjos dominated the Californian from bell to bell, controlling and shutting down Diaz every step of the way. Those two victories, combined with a June stoppage of Jason High, have gone a long way toward erasing the memory of dos Anjos’ April defeat at the hands of another lightweight title contender, Khabib Nurmagomedov.

While his current winning streak has yet to secure him a shot at UFC gold, dos Anjos’ 2014 campaign could hardly have been more impressive. With his willingness to fight frequently against top-notch opponents -- four times in eight months, for those of you who are counting -- dos Anjos should find himself vying for the belt in the coming year.

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