Idman.biz
The date of Rafael Fiziev's return to the UFC, who represents Azerbaijan in mixed martial arts (MMA) tournaments, has been announced.
Idman.Biz reports that this was announced by the Azerbaijani fighter's manager, Sayat Abdurakhmanov, in an interview with the "Ushatayka" "YouTube" channel.
According to him, Fiziev is currently undergoing rehabilitation after an injury, and his next fight may take place in early next year:
"This could have been a very good story for Rafael. He could have advanced in the rankings, won the main fight against Oliveira in Brazil and achieved a historic result. Unfortunately, he got injured. The decision to withdraw from the fight was correct, otherwise the injury would have worsened and he would have been out of action for a long time. He is now in the rehabilitation stage and we hope he will be able to fight early next year. Of course, we didn't want to stay out of such a fight, but the decision was absolutely right."
The manager also shared his thoughts on Fiziev's next opponent:
"UFC has such a policy - rankings don't play that big of a role. We are interested in fights of any level. If the fight can be worthy of the fight of the year, this is a great option for Rafael. Beautiful victories and impressive finishes will take him forward. Fiziev himself doesn't care - the opponent is higher or lower in the ranking than him. He is ready to fight anyone.
Apparently, the next opponent will not be someone at Oliveira's level. For example, the fight against Ignacio Bahamondes in Baku was very interesting, although the Chilean athlete was not in the ranking. But that victory gave Rafaya the opportunity to fight Oliveira in the main fight. If the next match is as interesting as the fight with Bahamondes, we are not against it. If he wins, he can get the opportunity to face fighters like Oliveira and Max Holloway."
It should be reminded that Rafael Fiziev was supposed to face Charles Oliveira at the UFC tournament in Rio de Janeiro on October 11. However, he had to postpone the fight due to a knee injury. He was replaced by Polish Mateusz Gamrot, but he lost to his Brazilian opponent. Fiziev's manager believes that if the fight had taken place between Rafael and Oliveira, the result would have been completely different.
Teymur Tushiyev
