Rafael Fiziev targets UFC 265 return; says he can’t go home ‘without an opponent’s head’
- Kyrgyzstani lightweight reveals he tried to track down UFC matchmaker Sean Shelby during trip to Las Vegas to corner Shavkat Rokhmonov
- ‘Give me someone. I don’t think about [the] rank. Debut fighter, not debut fighter. Big experience, small experience,’ frustrated Fiziev says
Rafael Fiziev is having a difficult time finding another opponent.
After suffering his first professional loss in his UFC debut against Magomed Mustafaev in early 2019, the 28-year-old Kyrgyzstani has put together a violent three-fight win streak. He’s earned fight-night bonuses in his last two outings, including a devastating knockout of Renato Moicano at UFC 256 that put the lightweight division on notice.
But six and a half months have passed without a match-up, and Fiziev went on a mission to find some answers from the promotional brass during a trip to Las Vegas to corner Shavkat Rokhmonov at UFC Vegas 30 last month.
“I wanted to see Sean Shelby in Vegas,” Fiziev told SCMP MMA. “And I wanted to talk with him. And I wanted to ask him, ‘What is that? When I fight? When you give me someone?’
“Because now I am in [the] USA. And I don’t want to come back to my home. I don’t want to see my family because I don’t have something, [an] opponent’s head with me. I need to take some[one’s] head and go home. I can’t come back home now because I [am] waiting. He’s hiding from me.”
Fiziev’s growing, fearsome reputation has seen his manager – Ruby Sports and Entertainment owner Daniel Rubenstein – struggle to get a booking.
“Added another UFC fighter today to the list of ‘unavailable to fight Rafael Fiziev’ for June or July,” Rubenstein tweeted in late May.
Ngannou done dirty by UFC – interim heavyweight title is a farce
After back-to-back victories in a division many consider the most stacked worldwide, the unranked Fiziev would be justified to demand an opponent in the top 15 – but “Attaman” insists he isn’t picky.
“We have, I don’t know, how many fighters in the lightweight division? Like 70 or 80 fighters,” Fiziev said. “Give me someone. I don’t think about [the] rank. Debut fighter, not debut fighter. Big experience, small experience. Big hand, big head, give me someone.”
Fiziev revealed the UFC has offered him a spot on the UFC 265 prelims at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. The pay-per-view will be headlined by an interim heavyweight title bout between Derrick Lewis and Ciryl Gane.
Now he and his team are just waiting for a contract and a name, as he enters his third training camp at Sanford MMA since arriving in Florida earlier this year.
“I’m ready to fight [in] like two, three weeks,” Fiziev said. “Short notice. Just for cutting weight.”
