UFC Fight Night is getting closer and closer as we have an incredible main event fight between two of the best lightweights in the world looking to get closer to the UFC Lightweight Championship. Seventh-ranked lightweight Rafael Dos Anjos will clash against the 10th-ranked lightweight Rafael Fiziev in the main event on Saturday night inside of the UFC APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Last fights records
Rafael Dos Anjos is entering this fight coming off a unanimous decision victory over Renato Carneiro back at UFC 272 on March 5 while Rafael Fiziev is entering the octagon after defeating Brad Riddell with a spinning wheel kick in the third round back at UFC on ESPN 31 on December 4, 2021.
Dos Anjos vs Fiziev Betting Analysis
These two fighters have waited a while to get their hands on one another, so this has the potential to be a great fight. Let’s dive into both fighters to determine where we should be placing our wagers.
Rafael Dos Anjos content
There is a reason why Rafael Dos Anjos is considered one of the best lightweights on the UFC roster at 37 years of age, as he is able to use his veteran mindset to outperform his opponent and pick up victories. Dos Anjos has a 31-13-0 career record and is on a two-fight winning streak as he defeated Renato Carneiro via unanimous decision back at UFC 272 in March.
That was his first fight in 16 months, so it will definitely be interesting to see how his body responds to getting back in active competition once again after a little layoff. He is known to be more of a submission artist than a powerhouse as 10 of his 31 career victories (32 percent) have come with a submission ending the fight. His most effective finishing submission has been the arm-triangle choke, so it will be interesting to see if he can lock that in here.
Rafael Fiziev content
Rafael “Atman” Fiziev has been one of the surging fighters in UFC as he has been dominant with a 11-1-0 record entering this fight. He is currently on a five-fight winning streak after defeating Brad Riddell via knockout back in December. At 29 years old, he is in his physical prime and should be able to dominate after having over seven months between this and his last fight.
Fiziev has shown the ability to dominate throughout his career as seven of his 11 wins (64 percent) have ended with a knockout, including two of his last three fights. Atman has also shown he can knock out his opponent multiple ways as he has done it with his wheel kicks as well as with his striking ability. He currently sits at 10th in the UFC Lightweight Division, but if continues with his dominant stretch, he can quickly surge to a title fight in his next few fights.
Updates
This fight has been brewing for a while now as they were originally supposed to clash back in February, but Fiziev dealt with visa issues and was forced out of the fight. Then, it was rescheduled to March, but Fiziev tested positive for COVID-19 and that forced Dos Anjos to fight Renato Moicano with less than a week notice. Now it seems like nothing will derail this inevitable fight between some of the best the UFC has to offer.
Dos Anjos vs Fiziev Betting Preview
UFC betting can be a little tricky at times, but this fight feels like it should go one way (as we will discuss). The betting odds list Fiziev as a heavy -205 favorite to win here as Dos Anjos is currently being listed as a moderate underdog with +175 odds to win this matchup.
Dos Anjos vs Fiziev Betting Prediction
The age difference shows a major difference between these fighters as Dos Anjos is 37 years old while Rafael Dos Anjos is eight years younger at 29 years old. Fiziev has the ability to dominate with his strikes and continues to end the fight quickly as he has a 10:29 average time of fight while Dos Anjos has a 14:37 average fight time.
Landing significant strikes is critical to winning fights as Dos Anjos lands 3.62 significant strikes per minute in his career while Fiziev is landing 5.35 significant strikes per minute so far. Fiziev has dominated throughout his career and should be able to continue controlling the fight and end it in a knockout. All in all, go with Rafael “Ataman” Fiziev to win this fight as my UFC pick.
How to bet on Rafael Dos Anjos vs Rafael Fiziev
With this being the biggest UFC event of the weekend, it should relatively easily to find the UFC betting odds for this fight. Go over to your favorite sportsbook and click on the MMA/UFC tab to see all of the upcoming fights and look for either Rafael Dos Anjos or Rafael Fiziev’s name. If you cannot find it, look for the search bar and type in either fighter’s name and the fight with the betting odds should appear.
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