MANILA, Philippines – For the second time in barely a month, the main event of a UFC event saw one fight knock the opponent out in the waning seconds of the match.
Rafael Fiziev knocked out former UFC lightweight champion Rafael Dos Anjos with 18 seconds left in the fifth and final round in the main event of UFC Fight Night at the Apex in Las Vegas last Sunday, July 10.
Fiziev looked to have won the first three rounds but Dos Anjos came back strong in the fourth and the fifth as he rocked the former.
But in the fifth round, Fiziev threw a devastating left hook that dropped the Brazilian. As Dos Anjos fell to the canvas, he took another shot from Fiziev after which, referee Mark Smith put a stop to the fight.
With the KO victory, Fiziev said, "Now we know who's the best Rafa in UFC! Now I want to know who's the best Rafa in sport: Rafael Nadal, come here! Give me something nice, someone in the top five, to make one more knock out in the fifth round, I'm ready."
On a sour note for Filipino mixed martial arts fans, Filipino-Salvadoran-American fighter Ricky Turcios was methodically outpointed by Canadian Aiemann Zahabi, who took a unanimous decision victory (29-28 in all three judges’ scorecards).
Zahabi waited for Turcios to wade in before firing away. Turcios, for all his posturing during the fight, never seriously hurt Zahabi. But the Canadian landed more significant strikes and leg kicks to earn the victory.
Zahabi improved to 9-2-0, including 3-2 in the UFC while Turcios’ record dropped to 12-3-0, including a 1-1 record in the UFC.
UFC Fight Nights was shown on the Premier Sports channel on Skycable and Cignal as well as on the TapGo streaming application.