The so-called ‘Battle of the Rafaels’ between Rafael dos Anjos and Rafael Fiziev will finally go ahead when they meet in the lightweight main event of a UFC Fight Night at the APEX Facility in Las Vegas on the morning of Sunday 10 July 2022.
This fight was originally slated for February but postponed to UFC 272 the following month due to visa issues for Fiziev, who then tested positive for Covid-19 and this led to the second date being scrapped as well.
Former lightweight champion Dos Anjos (31-13) is chasing a third straight win after victories over Paul Felder (via split decision) and Renato Moicano (via unanimous decision) in November 2020 and March of this year respectively.
The 37-year-old Brazilian-American dominated in his last trip to the Octagon and admits that he eased up on Moicano.
“I was [surprised the fight wasn’t stopped],” Dos Anjos explained. “I told my corner, after the doctor stepped in from the third to the fourth and the fourth to the fifth, they didn’t stop it in the third and I said, ‘They’re gonna stop it for sure.’ But they didn’t.”
He added, “I’m not gonna say I took it easy on him in the fifth. I went, but I took my foot off the gas because I knew I was four rounds ahead and he’s a hard guy to finish, so my coach said don’t take any risks, just go there, eat some time.
“It drives me nuts because I see guys in boxing, all the time people throw the towel, stop the fight, and we don’t see that in MMA,” Dos Anjos said.
“I think because of the small gloves, coaches think, ‘He’s gonna get a lucky punch and finish the fight,’ but I think we should see that more. I think coaches should be more aware, to know their fighters. They’re not reacting, they’re not connecting anything that really hurts the other guy, so let’s stop it because you’re killing your fighter. I think that’s something that the coaches in MMA should be more aware of.”
Fiziev (11-1) comes into the bout with a five-fight win streak under his belt. His last trip to the Octagon brought a third-round knockout of Brad Riddell in December 2021.
The 29-year-old Kyrgyzstani believes a win over a former title holder such as Dos Anjos would put him on the verge of a championship match.
“Yeah, if everything goes good I see one more fight and fight for the belt shortly,” Fiziev explained. “I see maybe somebody, maybe [Justin] Gaethje or [Dustin] Poirier after. Poirier’s going to 170, yeah? Maybe Gaethje next one. We’ll see. We’ll see, but after this fight, if all goes well, I want one more fight and then a title shot.”
The rest of the main card features Caio Borralho v Armen Petrosyan in the middleweight division; a bantamweight battle between Said Nurmagomedov and Douglas Silva de Andrade; Jared Vanderaa v Chase Sherman in a heavyweight collision; a middleweight match pitting Jamie Pickett against Denis Tiuliulin; and Michael Johnson v Jamie Mullarkey in a lightweight opener.
UFC FIGHT NIGHT: Dos Anjos v Fiziev – Main card
- Lightweight: Rafael dos Anjos v Rafael Fiziev
- Middleweight: Caio Borralho v Armen Petrosyan
- Bantamweight: Said Nurmagomedov v Douglas Silva de Andrade
- Heavyweight: Jared Vanderaa v Chase Sherman
- Middleweight: Jamie Pickett v Denis Tiuliulin
- Lightweight: Michael Johnson v Jamie Mullarkey