5 great UFC fights to look forward to in February

#4. UFC lightweight bout: Rafael dos Anjos vs. Rafael Fiziev

Can Rafael Fiziev step up to the elite level at 155lbs when he takes on Rafael Dos Anjos?

February 19’s UFC Fight Night card only has a handful of fights officially confirmed thus far, but one is the headline bout and it sounds like an absolute barnburner.

That bout will see former lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos face off with fast-rising contender Rafael Fiziev in what will be the first real elite-level test for ‘Ataman’. Right now, the lightweight division is a little short on prospects, but if Fiziev can win here, he’ll instantly enter title contention.

The native of Kazakhstan has looked fantastic thus far into his tenure with the promotion, recovering from a debut loss to reel off five wins in a row. Most recently, he stopped Brad Riddell with a spinning wheel kick in a genuinely wild highlight-reel moment.

However, if he wants to break into the elite level, he won’t find things easy against dos Anjos. The former champion is arguably past his best at this stage. Despite being 37 years old now, he looked excellent against Paul Felder in his most recent fight and is still dangerous in all areas.

Overall, this not only looks like an intriguing clash, it looks like a potential barnburner too, especially when you consider Fiziev has claimed four post-fight bonuses in his six octagon appearances. If nothing else, this fight makes a throwaway event well worth checking out.

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#3. UFC heavyweight bout: Tai Tuivasa vs. Derrick Lewis

Will Tai Tuivasa be celebrating with a shoey after he faces Derrick Lewis in February?

UFC 271’s co-headline bout will see a battle of heavyweights as Tai Tuivasa and Derrick Lewis face off. Based on their previous octagon appearances, it’s safe to say that nobody should blink when this one goes down.

Lewis is currently the UFC’s undisputed knockout king. He’s managed to pull off a ludicrous total of 13 KO’s or TKO’s across his six-year tenure in the octagon, setting a record in the promotion in the process.

Most recently, ‘The Black Beast’ made light work of up-and-comer Chris Daukaus, finishing him off in just over three minutes to erase the memories of his interim title loss to Ciryl Gane in August.

However, Tuivasa has been on a memorable run of his own, knocking out his last four opponents. His victories over Greg Hardy and Augusto Sakai were highly impressive. His trademark ‘shoey’ celebration has made him one of the heavyweight division’s most popular fighters.

Quite whether ‘Bam Bam’ can pull off a third knockout in a row by defeating Lewis is a massive question mark. However, the likelihood of this one going the distance seems very slim.

Both Lewis and Tuivasa could easily be labeled glass cannons somewhat and so it could well come down to which big man can land the first heavy shot.

Whichever way this fight goes, it seems that a knockout is likely to occur, meaning it’s a must-see clash for fans of brawlers in particular.