Rafael Fiziev looks to make most of his 1st UFC headline fight

MANILA, Philippines – If there are any UFC fighters that Filipino combat sports fans can root for in this coming UFC Fight Night: Dos Anjos vs. Fiziev aside from Filipino-American Ricky Turcios, they could go for Rafael Fiziev.

The Kyrgyzstani fighter has made Phuket, Thailand — where he has trained and fought under Tiger Muay Thai — his home for several years now.

The famed Thai mixed martial arts gym has produced a lot of top-notch UFC fighters in champions in Roger Huerta, Alexander Volkanovski, Dan Hooker, Kai Kara-France, Valentina Shevchenko and Petr Yan to name but a few.

“I like it,” Fiziev told Philstar.com of living in Thailand. “It is different. But I can go to the beaches and relax and de-stress. I love the simple life. And I get to train with top MMA trainers and fighters. The food takes some getting used though.”

On Sunday, July 10  (Manila time), Fiziev (11-1, 5-1 in the UFC) will headline his first ever UFC fight where he will go up against veteran Rafael Dos Anjos (31-13; 20-11 in the UFC) in a lightweight match.

The Kyrgyzstani is currently rated 10th in the UFC lightweight rankings while Dos Anjos is at seventh.

“This is a big challenge for me,” said Fiziev of the fight against the Brazilian great who will go down as one of MMA’s all-time best. “And it is a big honor to be a headliner. Now I have to show them I can win this and go higher.”

Fiziev is prepared for however Dos Anjos wants to take the fight. “Stand-up, wrestling on the ground, I have prepared for this,” he added. The fight was previously schedule for February this 2022 but was postponed due to visa issues by the former. 

“So we had time to study him and now we will see if we can apply what we learned.”

UFC Fight Night: Dos Anjos vs. Fiziev will be televised on the Premier Sports Channel on Sky Cable and Cignal as well as on the TapGo streaming application. The fight begins at 6 a.m.