Rafael Fiziev poses on the scale during the UFC Fight Night weigh-in inside Flash Forum on UFC Fight Island (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)
Ahead of his main event duties at UFC Vegas 58 against Rafael Dos Anjos, we take a look at the nationality of Rafael Fiziev – is the lightweight a Russian?
Rafael Fiziev is one of the most prolific kickboxers to enter the UFC octagon. Currently, he is ranked 10th in the lightweight division. He faces Rafael Dos Anjos at UFC Vegas 58, a skilled and experienced veteran.
In his childhood, Fiziev’s dad bought him and his cousins’ boxing gloves and told them to spar. He would get beat up by his cousins, and Fiziev didn’t enjoy fighting, eventually giving it up. It wasn’t until he changed schools as a teenager that Fiziev took up Muay Thai at the age of 11 due to being bullied. While he concentrated on Muay Thai growing up, he also took up several other combat sports including combat sambo, boxing, Jiu-Jitsu, and wrestling. When switching from Thai boxing to MMA, he says learning the grappling was the toughest part but his striking and standup required adjusting as well.
Fiziev went on to make his professional MMA debut in 2015. He fought in Asian regional promotions like ROAD FC and the American promotion Titan FC before he signed with UFC.
In his promotional debut, Fiziev faced Magomed Mustafaev on April 20, 2019, at UFC Fight Night 149. Unfortunately, he lost the fight by technical knockout, spoiling his UFC homecoming party.
Rafael Fiziev is a Kazakhstani fighter, who resides in Phuket Thailand.
Following the loss in his UFC debut, Fiziev next faced Alex White on October 26, 2019, at UFC on ESPN+ 20. He won the fight via unanimous decision.
Fiziev faced Marc Diakiese, replacing Alan Patrick on July 19, 2020, at UFC Fight Night 172. He won the fight via unanimous decision. This fight earned him the Fight of the Night award.
Currently, he has a record of 5 wins and 1 loss inside the UFC octagon, and an overall MMA record of 11 wins and 1 loss.
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