Tomorrow night in the main event of UFC Vegas 58, we are going to see a battle of the Rafaels. Former lightweight champion Rafael Dos Anjos (31-13) is back as he takes on surging top contender Rafael Fiziev (11-1).
Originally, these two were supposed to headline a UFC Fight Night in February. However, due to travel complications, the fight was moved back a few weeks to UFC 272. Then, Fiziev came down with Covid and the fight was called off.
RDA stayed on the card and demolished last-minute replacement Renato Moicano. Since returning to the division that made him a UFC champion, Dos Anjos has gone 2-0 with wins over Moicano and Paul Felder. However, tomorrow night is a big step up.
Rafael Fiziev was stopped in his UFC debut. However, since then, he’s been tremendous. He’s won five straight fights and he put on a show in his last fight. He knocked out fellow top striker Brad Riddell with a wheel kick. Tomorrow night he’s looking to have his top-ten coming out party.
UFC Vegas 58 Prediction
This is such an intriguing matchup in arguably the most stacked division in the UFC. RDA has really good striking and he’s extremely diverse in his attack. He has great kicks, good combinations with his hands and he also has great clinch strikes.
However, he’s going to be at a pure striking disadvantage at UFC Vegas 58. Fiziev is one of the best pure strikers in the lightweight division. Because of that, my guess is that RDA is going to try and grapple quite a bit in this one.
Fiziev is extremely explosive in his strikes and that could hurt him if this fight turns into a marathon. That along with the heavy grappling attack from RDA could weigh him down. I think the early part of the fight is going to belong to Fiziev.
The question is whether or not he can finish the former UFC champion. I think we are going to see a really close fight, but I like RDA. I think the grappling and the cardio is going to play big in this one. It’ll be close, but RDA squeaks by and wins a close decision.
Prediction: Rafael Dos Anjos by Decision