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Rafael Fiziev continued his trend of calling out the most unexpected personalities after his dominant victories in the UFC.
After his victory over Rafael dos Anjos, 'Ataman' called out 22-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal for a fight inside the octagon, saying:
"Now I want to make a new challenge who is the best Rafa in the sport? Rafael Nadal, come here, come here."
Nadal, who is coming off a sensational 14th French Open title, withdrew from the semi-finals at Wimbledon after suffering an abdominal tear. The Spaniard is the latest name to be called out by Fiziev, which also includes the likes of actor Vince Vaughan and Russian celebrity Hasbulla Magomedov.
After his TKO win over Brad Riddell at UFC APEX in December 2021, Fiziev spotted Vaughan sitting cageside at the event. Fiziev called out the Hollywood actor, who also trains Brazilian jiu-jitsu, saying:
“We have one legend here, maybe he wants to fight with me. Yeah, his name is Vince Vaughn… Yeah, I love him.”
A mock promotional video was also released by the UFC promoting a possible Hasbulla vs. Fiziev fight after calling him out after his UFC 265 victory over Bobby Green. The Tiktok star suffers from a rare form of dwarfism and has been viewed by millions of fans rivaling fellow star Abdu Rozik on the social media platform.
Rafael Fiziev is on an impressive six-fight win streak that includes victories over Brad Riddell, Bobby Green and Renato Moicano. His only loss in the UFC came on his debut against Magomed Mustafaev back in 2019.
Rafael Fiziev becomes first fighter to represent Azerbaijan in the UFC
With the victory over dos Anjos, Rafael Fiziev became the first Azeri to win a fight inside the UFC after switching his allegiance from Kyrgyzstan. The 29-year old was born in Kazakhstan to a Russian mother and an Azerbaijani father.
His family moved to Kyrgyztan and have resided ever since. However, Fiziev explained his decision earlier on Instagram, citing harassment as the prime reason:
“My family and I have been subjected to harassment by the muftiate and other well-known people in Kyrgyzstan. Because of this unjustified harassment and lying videos, my family and I receive angry messages, hundreds of them.”
With his recent win over RDA, Rafael Fiziev is surely going to make huge progress up the rankings as he continues to dominate in the UFC.
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