A highly-anticipated Lightweight fight between Rafael dos Anjos and Rafael Fiziev has once again been scratched. The bout was originally set to take place on Feb. 19, 2022, but was ultimately moved to UFC 272 this weekend (Sat., March 5, 2022) after Fiziev encountered visa issues. Now, the fight is off once again after Fiziev came down with COVID-19.
In an interesting twist, dos Anjos was informed of the unfortunate news by Ariel Helwani while he was live on-air in the middle of an interview on The MMA Hour. Soon thereafter, Fiziev confirmed the news via Twitter:
I called out RDA and I still want that fight when my health will allow me to compete again. Apologies to him, but saying that I was faking it is complete nonsense. Time will put everything in place
— Rafael “Ataman” Fiziev (@RafaelFiziev) February 28, 2022
As far as dos Anjos is concerned, he is hoping the promotion finds a late replacement for him to salvage the full fight camp he put in, saying he is willing to take on any and all comers. Luckily for him, there seems to be a willing volunteer ready to fill the void after Renato Moicano threw his name in the ring.
Renato Moicano (@moicanoufc) has informed the UFC he is willing to step in against Rafael dos Anjos this weekend at #UFC272, his manager @ko_reps tells me. Moicano is fresh off a Feb. 12 win over Alexander Hernandez.
— Nolan King (@mma_kings) February 28, 2022
Color Islam Makhachev interested, too:
165lbs!! Division you guy created. I’m game. https://t.co/1HbCdw0dVi
— Rafael dos Anjos (@RdosAnjosMMA) February 28, 2022
Moicano is currently on a two-fight win streak and is fresh off a second round submission win over Alexander Hernandez, which took place at UFC 271 on Feb. 12. Makhachev, meanwhile, just extended his current win streak to 10 in a row, defeating Bobby Green via first-round technical knockout (watch highlights). For now, dos Anjos will have to sit idle to see if the promotion is willing to allow Moicano and/or Makhachev to step in.
Keep it tuned to MMAmania for future updates regarding this developing story.
Remember that MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 272 fight card right here, starting with the early ESPN+ “Prelims” matches online, which are scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. ET, then the remaining undercard balance on ESPN/ESPN+ at 8 p.m. ET, before the PPV main card start time at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN+ PPV.
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