Former UFC Champion Making Move To Welterweight

Rafael dos Anjos is making a major career move.

The former UFC Lightweight Champion announced on Friday that he'll be switching to 170 pounds after a rough 2016 saw him out of title contention at lightweight. Dos Anjos issued a statement on Twitter.

Dos Anjos entered 2016 as UFC Lightweight Champion, but missed out on a big payday, as an injury forced him from a planned UFC 196 title defense against Conor McGregor. RDA would go on to lose his championship in July to Eddie Alvarez, before dropping another fight to Tony Ferguson in November.

The 32-year old dos Anjos joins Donald Cerrone as high-profile lightweights to make the move up in weight over the past year.