Athletes
Rafael Fiziev Ready To Display His Evolution
UFC Lightweight Rafael Fiziev Is Ready To Put His Evolution Over The Past Several Months On Display After A 10,000 Mile Move To A New Gym
When Rafael Fiziev was forced by the pandemic to relocate from Tiger Muay Thai to Sanford MMA, he had no idea how profound of an impact the move would have on him.
Order UFC 265: Lewis vs Gane Now
“I came to Sanford because Henri Hooft is a tough coach,” the lightweight from Kyrgyzstan said of his move to Deerfield Beach, Florida. “There are a lot of good fighters. And not just good fighters; this gym is like a family. Everyone wants to help you, everyone talks good with you. It’s not like it’s a gym with a bunch of little teams, it’s one gym. It’s one team — this, for me, is a first.”
The inadvertent move 10,000 miles across the globe more than half a year ago gave way for Fiziev to develop his skills in areas that may have otherwise been neglected.
“I still grow here. I still grow and I feel it, because when I trained at Tiger (Muay Thai) before, and here, it’s more professional,” the 28-year-old said. “Everyone comes to the gym and knows what they need to do. In Thailand, it’s not the same, I don’t think, because there it’s a lot of amateur fighters. Here, everyone’s a UFC fighter or a professional fighter, so they know exactly what they need and what they want.”
MORE UFC 265: Official Weigh-In Results | Fight By Fight Preview | "Excuse My French, But F**k You" | Ciryl Gane | Michael Chiesa | Vicente Luque | Pedro Munhoz | Angela Hill | Song Yadong | Jessica Penne | Ode' Osbourne | Every Interim Heavyweight Title Fight
While the environment has seemed to have paid dividends in Fiziev’s progression as a mixed martial artist, “Ataman” hadn’t been afforded the chance to show off any of his new skills since his first-round knockout over Brazil’s Renato Moicano in December.
“This time I waited a long time, seven months,” Fiziev said. “I’m ready to fight. One month’s time rest, and then I was ready to fight. I started training, just hard work, and I’m always ready to fight.”
Although the surging lightweight has had trouble finding opponents to fight, the next challenge would come to lie in Bobby Green — a 20-fight UFC veteran who will be entering the Octagon for his 40th professional fight overall this Saturday at UFC 265.
“I like his style because he likes to talk,” Fiziev said. “When he’s in the cage, he lives in the cage. Same with me; when I’m in the cage, I live in this cage. I don’t want to finish my fights fast and go home. I want to stay here; I love this time. And I think Bobby loves this too.”
Despite finishing seven of his nine wins, six by knockout, Fiziev said he prefers his fights to go the distance — something he looks forward to testing himself with against “King.”
UFC 265 Embedded: Episode 1 | Episode 2 | Episode 3 | Episode 4
“I don’t think about finishing him; I never think about finishing opponents,” the recipient of performance bonuses in his last two fights said. “I’m ready every time for a hard fight, a long distance, and such a hard fight, not an easy fight. I stay ready for this every time. I never say, ‘Oh, it’s an easy fight, oh, I finish him.’ It’s never easy. It’s always hard work.”
While he doesn’t necessarily go into fights concerned with finishing opponents, it’s obviously something that comes naturally to the former Muay Thai fighter with 29 professional wins in the art of eight limbs.
“Body language is everything. You see what your opponent is going to do. When you touch him, what he does. His eyes, his body, his hands, his legs. You see everywhere.”
Being pitted against a veteran of the UFC lightweight division who has fought the likes of Dustin Poirier, Edson Barboza, Clay Guida and Thiago Moises is no easy task, but Fiziev, who has been fighting since the age of 12, believes wholeheartedly that he simply has more experience.
WATCH: Rafael Fiziev Knocks Out Renato Moicano
“Yeah, he’s had big experience in UFC and professional MMA, but I have big experience in amateur fighting,” Fiziev said. “I think I have more experience for fighting, for the fight life. I have more experience because I have a lot more amateur fights. He has big experience in the UFC cage, in America. But this is nothing.”
Experience aside, Fiziev believes he’ll finally get to showcase the skills he’s been developing at his new home of Sanford MMA over the past several months this Saturday, when he and Bobby Green square off in the final fight of the preliminary card.
“Yeah, with everyone you need to be careful because this is MMA,” Fiziev said. “Someone touches your chin — we all have the same chin — and you go to sleep, early, before night. I think he has only one option: make me sleep. Me? I have a lot of options to win over him during these 15 minutes.”
Don't miss Rafael Fiziev square off against Bobby Green tomorrow at UFC 265: Lewis vs Gane, live from a packed Toyota Center in Houston on ESPN+. Early Prelims begin at 6pm ET/3pm PT. Prelims start at 8pm ET/5pm PT. Main card begins at 10pm ET/7pm PT.
Tags
