UFC Fight Night: Rafael dos Anjos vs. Rafael Fiziev Preview, Odds, Prediction

Rafael dos Anjos and Rafael Fiziev clash at the UFC on ESPN 38. Their battle will headline the event, and give us the answer on will RDA stay among the top ten lightweights or will Fiziev enter that company, pushing out his tonight’s rival. The two guys often provide fun and excitement when appearing in the octagon, and we are here to make a preview of their clash. Fiziev is the favorite, but dos Anjos still has enough power to deliver an upset. After all, he is the former champion.

Preview

Rafael dos Anjos (+135) has 31 wins and 13 losses in his MMA career, but he was the UFC lightweight champion once, and that is what counts. He was better than Anthony Pettis when winning the belt and, after that, successfully defended it against Donald Cerrone. Eventually, RDA lost to Eddie Alvarez, and he was nowhere near getting a shot at the title later on.

RDA was a welterweight for a while, meeting all the best guys in the division, Kamaru, Colby, Rocky Edwards etc, and losing mostly via decisions. Only recently, he decided to drop down to the lightweight division once again, posting two wins after that, one vs. Paul Felder (split decision) and against Renato Moicano (unanimous decision)

He has a powerful punching technique and a high volume of punches. RDA possesses a solid takedown defense and is quite solid on the ground as well, having 10 submission wins. He is a grappling master and, overall, a very versatile guy in the octagon.

Rafael Fiziev (-205) is a bombastic striker who will change the shape of your face if you allow him to impose his style of the fight early on. The Kazakh fighter is relentless with his punching, and it is no wonder that seven of his 11 fights so far were via knockout.

He has only one loss in his career so far and is on a five-win streak, which eventually brought him to the verge of entering the division’s top ten. That is, he is the No.10 right now. Fiziev has tremendous power in his hand, and he knows how to use it. On the other hand, he tends to be a bit reckless and overexpose himself, but the Kazakh has a fantastic chin that cracked only once in his career.

The most recent KO against Brad Ridell propelled him into UFC’s orbit, and if Fiziev wins this one, we could see him in another main event afterward, which could even be a title-eliminator.

Prediction

RDA is a more versatile fighter, that is for sure, but his age is against him. While Fiziev has 29 years and is at the beginning of his prime, dos Anjos is eight years older, and pretty worn out. The explosiveness and the power are on Fiziev’s side, and the only way RDA can score a victory here would be to drag the rival on the mat. That isn’t impossible, but in our opinion, the chances are pretty low due to Fiziev’s dynamic and his physic. That is why we predict his win, which would be our pick in this case.

Pick: Fiziev -205