Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream the UFC live on
your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the
ESPN app. The battle for the best Rafael in the Ultimate Fighting Championship is on the books
for a five-rounder in February. Twitter user Full
Violence posted about Rafael dos
Anjos (30-13) vs. Rafael
Fiziev (11-1) coming together on Thursday night. The UFC’s
broadcast partner of ESPN
subsequently confirmed on Friday that this 155-pound encounter
would headline the
UFC Fight Night event on Feb. 19. The two top-ranked
lightweights that had been chirping at one another on social media
will come to blows at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
Dos Anjos came back to the lightweight division in 2020 after eight
bouts at 170 pounds including an interim title fight. His return to
the division in which he was champ saw him defeat Paul Felder
by a head-scratching split decision in which he likely won all five
rounds
in the eyes of most observers. The Brazilian had been planning
to fight Islam
Makhachev for a significant portion of 2020 and 2021, only for
both men to suffer injuries and dos Anjos to contract COVID-19.
Facing dos Anjos will be Fiziev, who is coming off the biggest win
of his career in a “Knockout of the Year” contender against
Brad
Riddell in December. At UFC on ESPN 31, Fiziev nailed Riddell
with a spinning wheel kick to score the knockout, and in the
process, earned his fourth post-fight bonus in four appearances.
Since his unsuccessful UFC debut in 2019 – an 86-second knockout to
Magomed
Mustafaev – Fiziev has rattled off five straight victories.
Dos Anjos and Fiziev will name the final unnamed UFC card in
February, although its designation has not yet been made official
whether it will be coined a UFC Fight Night or ESPN offering. The
lightweights will square off at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas over five
rounds on Feb. 19 to cap off the fight card. Other noteworthy bouts
previously booked for the card include a light heavyweight battle
between Johnny
Walker and Jamahal
Hill, as well as a middleweight clash placing Julian
Marquez against Kyle
Daukaus.
