It wasn’t without adversity, but Rafael Fiziev confirmed that he is now a Top 10 lightweight and, perhaps the near future, a likely title contender.
In the main event of UFC on ESPN 39 on Saturday at the Apex in Las Vegas, “Ataman” faced the sternest test of his career to date in former champ Rafael dos Anjos. The main questions hanging over the 29-year-old kickboxer heading into “UFC Vegas 58” seemed well on their way to being answered. Fiziev’s takedown defense, which had been impregnable on a near-record setting level over the course of his first seven Octagon wins, held up admirably for most of the fight against one of the division’s strongest wrestlers and top-position grapplers.