Fiziev stops Dos Anjos in fifth round

Rafael Fiziev secured his first main-event victory in the UFC after stopping Rafael dos Anjos in the fifth round of their lightweight clash in a Fight Night at the APEX Facility in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Sunday morning.

The Azerbaijani, who moves to 12-1 with a sixth straight victory, was on course for a solid though unspectacular win on points, but put an exclamation mark on his performance just a few seconds into the final round when he floored Dos Anjos with a left hook and followed it up with a perfectly-placed standing-to-ground punch.

The result moves the 29-year-old ‘Ataman’ closer to title contention, while his vanquished opponent drops to 31-14 and has suffered three defeats in his last five trips to the Octagon.

“Now we know who is the best Rafael in the UFC,” Fiziev said. “Who says I don’t have cardio? Who says he’s gonna take me down and submit me?… Now he knows my power.”

The rest of the main card saw Caio Borralho claim a unanimous decision win over Armen Petrosyan in the middleweight division; Said Nurmagomedov outpointed Douglas Silva de Andrade in the bantamweight category; heavyweight Chaser Sherman claimed a TKO win over Jared Vaneraa; Aiemann Zahabi defeated Ricky Turcios via unanimous decision in the bantamweight division; and the opener saw lightweight Jamie Mullarkey upset Michael Johnson via split decision.

The next UFC event is a Fight Night at the UBS Arena in Elmont, New York on the morning of Sunday 17 July and headlined by a featherweight fight between Brian Ortega and Yair Rodriguez.

UFC Fight Night: Dos Anjos v Fiziev – Main card results

- Lightweight: Rafael Fiziev def. Rafael dos Anjos via TKO (punches), R5, 0:18

- Middleweight: Caio Borralho def. Armen Petrosyan via unanimous decision (30-27 30-27 29-28), R3, 5:00

- Bantamweight: Said Nurmagomedov def. Douglas Silva de Andrade via unanimous decision (30-27 29-28 29-28), R3, 5:00

- Heavyweight: Chase Sherman def. Jared Vaneraa via TKO (punches), R3, 3:10

- Bantamweight: Aiemann Zahabi def. Ricky Turcios via unanimous decision (29-28 29-28 29-28), R3, 5:00

- Lightweight: Jamie Mullarkey def. Michael Johnson via split decision (28-29 29-28 29-28), R3, 5:00