With his upcoming rematch with former foe Justin Gaethje at UFC 313, we will be looking back at the Mauy Thai fighter turned MMA fighter Rafael Fiziev, taking a dive into the Muay Thai career of the Kyrgistani fighter turned UFC star striker.
What titles did Rafael Fiziev win in Muay Thai?
Rafael Fiziev has a very good record in Muay Thai, with 39 wins, 29 of which came via knockout, and eight losses. Despite his Muay Thai career never achieving any major notoriety, he won a few minor titles, such as winning the Bangla stadium via brutal knockout against a Muay Thai fighter named Oasis.
Despite this being Rafael Fiziev’s most notable win, at least in terms of winning proper muay Thai titles, he would still earn his stripes when he faced off against high-level Thai fighters such as Sorgaw of the world-famous Petchyindee Academy, who is a former Lumpinee champion and former ONE Championship Muay Thai fighter. In about, Fiziev would lose by a decision.
However, Rafael Fiziev’s true crowning moment in Muay Thai was when he faced off against former Omnoi Stadium and Lumpinee Stadium champion Yodpayak in a 4 oz Muay Thai bout that Rafael Fiziev would win in vicious fashion. He slumped the Muay Thai champion with a brutal cross-hook combination, putting him down for the count.
This win in the small gloves likely influenced Rafael Fiziev’s permanent move to MMA and a journey to the UFC. After this bout, Fiziev would take one more Muay Thai bout in the traditional boxing gloves against Leyton Collymore, a bout he ultimately lost via decision, after which he would make a permanent transition to MMA.
What to make of Rafael Fiziev’s short lived Muay Thai run
While Fiziev’s run in Muay Thai has been short, he still earned his stripes and won some minor titles and fought some of the best competition one can face outside of top promotions like ONE Championship and RWS. Despite his lack of accolades, he still would go on to be one of the best fighters out of Phuket Top Team and then switched over to one of the best Muay Thai and MMA gyms in the world, Tiger Muay Thai. He even became a Muay Thai instructor there, a fantastic accomplishment in its own right.
So while it may not have all the high-stakes matches with the fancy belts the likes of Superlek and Takeru may win, Rafael Fiziev still has a story to make for himself on the biggest stage in all of MMA and get revenge against fellow top striker and always exciting slugger Justin Gaethje. The best thing to come out of Rafael Fiziev’s Muay Thai career is his skills, which pay the bills in the UFC.
