Rafael Fiziev injured, OUT of UFC Rio main event opposing Charles Oliveira

It appears no. 10 ranked UFC lightweight contender Rafael Fiziev (13-4) won’t be facing no. 4 ranked former champion Charles Oliveira (35-11) next month at UFC Rio.

Fiziev suffered an undisclosed injury yesterday, forcing his withdrawal from the competition.

This was expected to be Oliveira’s first time competing in Brazil since his 2020 submission victory over Kevin Lee at UFC Brasilia. In contrast, it was also expected to be Fiziev’s first time ever traveling to Brazil for a fight.

Some could see this as a good thing, given Oliveira was just KO’d in June when he faced Ilia Topuria for the UFC lightweight championship; this was a very quick turnaround following what he endured over the summer, and against a 39-8 former kickboxing champion no less.

That said, the UFC is currently seeking a replacement for Oliveira, but they’ve only got three weeks before the event takes place. UFC Rio is to go down on October 11, 2025, live from the Farmasi Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

As it currently sits there are a few ranked top 10 lightweight contenders that could potentially fill in, such as no. 3 ranked former featherweight champion Max Holloway (27-8), which would be a rematch of their 2015 encounter that saw Holloway the victor via TKO (injury), no. 6 ranked Dan Hooker (24-13), no. 7 ranked Paddy Pimblett (23-3), and no. 8 ranked Mateusz Gamrot (25-3).

No. 5 ranked former interim champion Justin Gaethje (26-5) and no. 9 ranked Beneil Dariush are also currently sitting without a fight, though Oliveira did stop both of them in the opening round of their fights relatively recently, in 2022 and 2023 respectively.

Who would you like to see replace Rafael Fiziev to face Charles Oliveira in the main event of UFC Rio?

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Brady Ordway

I became a fan of combat sports when I was 12 years old. I was scrolling through the channels and landed upon Versus, where WEC was televised. Urijah Faber fought Jens Pulver for the second time that night. That's the first fight I ever saw, and I was immediately hooked. So eventually, I began covering the sport in the fourth quarter of 2018, and have since started writing about animals as well. If you'd like to see those pieces, be sure to check out learnaboutnature.com!

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