- Rafael Fiziev is an even bigger betting favorite against Rafael Dos Anjos after their bout was moved to UFC 272.
- Fiziev opened at -130 during their first booking but re-opened at -241 odds on Sunday.
- Fiziev and Dos Anjos are now expected to co-headline UFC 272 on March 5th in Las Vegas.
New fight date, shorter odds.
That’s what happened to Rafael Fiziev in connection with his bout against Rafael Dos Anjos. Fiziev opened as the -130 betting favorite when the fight was first announced. But after it was rescheduled to a later date, “Ataman” is now a bigger betting favorite over the Brazilian.
According to the best UFC betting sites, Fiziev is now the -241 odds on favorite with Dos Anjos coming back at +206 in the re-opened betting lines:
UFC Fight Night 204:
Rafael Dos Anjos (+206)
Rafael Fiziev (-241)https://t.co/jEerQVm6cc @RdosAnjosMMA— BestFightOdds (@BestFightOdds) February 20, 2022
The Dos Anjos-Fiziev bout was supposed to headline last week’s UFC Vegas 48 event at the APEX. However, the UFC announced one week before the event that the fight will be moved to the UFC 272 pay-per-view event on March 5th as the co-main event to the grudge match between Jorge Masvidal and Colby Covington.
Fiziev Finishes Riddell With Wheel Kick
#UFCVegas44 highlights! Rafael Fiziev finishes Brad Riddell with brutal wheel kick https://t.co/qIbClGIART
— MMA mania (@mmamania) December 5, 2021
Fiziev enters this bout with five consecutive wins after losing his UFC debut. In his most recent outing, the 28-year old from Kazakhstan finished Brad Riddell with a brutal wheel kick in a Performance of the Night winning display at UFC Vegas 44 last December 4, 2021. Ataman has earned a post-fight bonus in his last four victories inside the UFC Octagon.
A veteran of W.I.N. FC, Primal FC, Road FC, and Titan FC, Fiziev started his career in the Far East before signing with the UFC in 2019. In his UFC debut, the Kazakh fighter suffered a TKO loss to Magomed Mustafaev at UFC Fight Night 149, his first career loss. He’s won five in a row since and has an overall record of 11-1 with seven knockouts and one submission victory.
This marks the sixth time in seven bouts where Fiziev has opened as the betting favorite under the UFC. The only time where he saw the plus money sign next to his name inside the Octagon was when he was listed at +180 against Marc Diakiese. He won that fight via unanimous decision. Fiziev was a -120 favorite when he stopped Riddell the last time out.
First Bout at Lightweight Since 2016
What a fight!
Two greats at lightweight throwing down for the full 25 ?
The first win at lightweight for Rafael Dos Anjos since 2016 and Paul Felder made him work for every second of it!#UFCVegas14 pic.twitter.com/EzPmYeZgrx
— UFC on BT Sport (@btsportufc) November 15, 2020
Dos Anjos has not fought since a split decision win over Paul Felder in the main event of UFC Vegas 14 last November 14, 2020. The bout was Dos Anjos’ first at lightweight since 2016 as the Brazilian campaigned at welterweight after back-to-back losses to Eddie Alvarez and Tony Ferguson. Dos Anjos went 4-4 in his welterweight stint and once challenged for the interim belt, losing to Colby Covington.
The 37-year old from Rio de Janeiro is a former UFC lightweight champion, winning the belt at UFC 185 with a unanimous decision win over Anthony Pettis. Dos Anjos went on to successfully defend the belt against Donald Cerrone at UFC on Fox 17 before losing it to Alvarez in his next bout. After a second consecutive defeat against Ferguson, RDA moved up to welterweight where he won his first three bouts and earned an interim title shot.
RDA was also betting underdog in four out of his last six bouts. The Brazilian was listed at +122 against Covington and +270 against Kamaru Usman one fight later. Dos Anjos was also a +104 against Leon Edwards and a +135 against Kevin Lee. He won only once during those four bouts, defeating Lee via submission in May 2019.
