Rafael
Fiziev would never have become a
UFC standout striker had his job as a police officer not gone
south.
Born to an Azerbaijani father and a Russian mother, Fiziev (14-5)
was mostly raised in Kyrgyzstan. Fiziev dreamed of becoming a
Kyrgyz police officer and successfully graduated from the police
academy. However, Fiziev’s expectations were shattered from the
very beginning of his job. Fiziev claims that academically less
successful people got better positions by paying bribes, while he
was made to serve parking tickets. Fiziev’s original goal was to
fight the drug mafia. When Fiziev saw the alleged corruption in the
police force, he left within a couple of months to pursue a
professional career in MMA.
Corruption and Changing Course
“I went to work and saw all of this bulls—t in the Kyrgyzstan
police,” Fiziev said on „The
Ariel Helwani Show” “Zero justice—100% corruption. I said,
‘What the f—k? I don’t want to be here.’… It was my dream to
stand against the mafia and drug dealers. When I finished academy,
I wanted to be in position where I could fight drug dealers. But
they put me in a s—t position. And the people who didn’t study well
just paid money to be in good positions. I studied hard. I tried to
become a smart, good officer. But because of corruption—and because
I have blue eyes and white skin—they wouldn’t put me in a good
position… I dreamed about being a police officer for 10 years. Then
I got there and saw how it really worked. Instead of fighting
crime, I was writing parking tickets. I said, ‘F— it. I’m done.’ If
that hadn’t happened, I would’ve been a full-time police officer.
One hundred percent.”
Fiziev took on Manuel
Torres in Baku, Azerbaijan, last weekend. Fiziev’s vision was
compromised by a jab from Torres late in the first round. However,
“Ataman” knocked Torres out 15 seconds into the second round with a
highlight-reel spinning back kick that sent the crowd into a
frenzy.