Today is the birthday of Azerbaijani athlete Rafael Fiziyev, who represents our country in the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship).

Offsideplus.az reports that our compatriot is celebrating his 33rd birthday.

Rafael Salman oglu Fiziyev was born on March 5, 1993 in Kazakhstan. His father is Azerbaijani by nationality, and his mother is Russian. He moved to Kyrgyzstan with his family when he was young. Raphael, who practiced Muay Thai as a child, later tried himself in combat sambo, boxing, jui-jitsu, and wrestling.

He started his professional career in UFC in 2015. Our lightweight athlete nicknamed "Ataman" has entered the octagon 15 times, won 12 times and lost 3 times.

Fate made R. Fiziyev spend his 33rd birthday not with his family in Thailand, where he lives, but in Las Vegas, USA. He came to Nevada with his team to fight in the UFC313 tournament. Our compatriot will fight with local athlete Justin Gage on March 9.

In his hand, this meeting was not planned in advance. However, since Justin Gage's opponent was injured, the organizers unexpectedly gave Rafael a chance to participate in UFC313 on February 27.

Aiming to win a belt in his own weight class, Fiziyev hopes to make up for his defeat to C. Geyci 2 years ago and move towards his goal.

The fight will take place at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The matches of the main card featuring our athlete will start at 7 a.m. on March 9, Baku time.