Rafael Fiziev is a Russian-Azerbaijani professional mixed martial artist, a blue belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and a former Muay Thai fighter fighting out of Deerfield Beach, Florida, United States. He was born in Korday, Kazakhstan to an Azerbaijani father and a Russian mother.
BIOGRAPHY
When Fiziev was young, he and his family moved from Korday to Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. As an athlete, he used to represent Kyrgyzstan.
Aside from MMA and Muay Thai, Fiziev also enjoys blacksmithing. After graduating from the Police Academy of Kyrgyzstan in Bishkek, he worked as a police officer.
While living in Phuket, Thailand, Fiziev is signed with the Ultimate Fighting Championship, which is based in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. He is 5’8″ tall and he fights in the lightweight division.
Fiziev is a devout Shia Muslim. He and his wife Kamilla Fiziev have one son together.
As an MMA fighter, Fiziev uses the fight names Ataman and Rafa. Here are 13 more things about him:
- He holds a professional MMA record of 13 wins and 4 losses and a professional kickboxing record of 39 wins and 8 losses.
- In 2004, he took up Muay Thai.
- He was a Kyrgyz Muaythai Federation champion in 2007, 2008 and 2009.
- He won silver at the 2009 International Federation of Muaythai Associations (IFMA) World Championships Junior.
- He was the -63.5 kg champion at the 2010 World Muaythai Federation.
- In 2011, he was the IFMA national champion in Kazakhstan.
- From 2015 to 2017, he trained at Phuket Top Team in Phuket.
- On July 18, 2015, he made his professional MMA debut.
- In 2016, he won bronze at the 2016 IFMA World Championships in the -71 kg division.
- In 2017, he started training at Tiger Muay Thai in Phuket.
- On April 20, 2019, he made his UFC debut and made history as the first Azerbaijani UFC fighter.
- In 2021, he became a citizen of Azerbaijan, revealed he would no longer represent Kyrgyzstan and started training at Kill Cliff FC in Deerfield Beach.
- On March 5, 2025, he turned 32.
TIMELINE
From 2015 to 2025, Rafael Fiziev fought 17 professional MMA opponents. Here are the results:
2015
- On July 18, 2015, he knocked out Sam Bastin in a W.I.N FC event in Shenzhen, China.
2016
- On October 10, 2016, he submitted Gunduz Nabiev in a Boroda FC event in Bishkek.
2017
- On March 24, 2017, he defeated Suraj Bahadur via technical knockout at “Primal FC: Dark Moon Rising” in Phuket.
- On June 10, 2017, he defeated Kim Seung-yeon via TKO at at “Road FC 39” in Seoul, South Korea.
- On December 23, 2017, he knocked out Nandin-Erdene Munguntsooj at “Road FC 45” in Seoul.
2018
- On December 21, 2018, he knocked out Nurzhan Tutaev at “Titan FC 51” in Almaty, Kazakhstan.
2019
- On April 20, 2019, he he lost to Magomed Mustafaev via TKO at “UFC Fight Night 149” in Saint Petersburg, Russia.
- On October 26, 2019, he defeated Alex White via unanimous decision at “UFC Fight Night 162” in Kallang, Singapore.
2020
- On July 18, 2020, he defeated Marc Diakiese via unanimous decision at “UFC Fight Night 172” on Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
- On December 12, 2020, he knocked out Renato Moicano at “UFC 256” in Enterprise, Nevada.
2021
- On August 7, 2021, he defeated Bobby Green via unanimous decision at “UFC 265″in Houston, Texas, USA.
- On December 4, 2021, he knocked out Brad Riddell at “UFC on ESPN 31” in Enterprise.
2022
- On July 9, 2022, he knocked out Rafael dos Anjos at “UFC Vegas 58” in Enterprise.
2023
- On March 18, 2023, he lost to Justin Gaethje via majority decision at “UFC 286” in London, England.
- On September 23, 2023, he lost to Mateusz Gamrot via TKO at “UFC Vegas 79” in Enterprise.
2025
- On March 8, 2025, he lost to Justin Gaethje via unanimous decision at “UFC 313” in Paradise, Nevada.
- On June 21, 2025, he defeated Ignacio Bahamondes via unanimous decision at “UFC on ABC 8” in Baku, Azerbaijan.
CONAN Daily 