Fresh off the back of his fifth-round stoppage win over ex-lightweight champ Rafael Dos Anjos, the “Best Rafael” – Fiziev – wants a piece of another heavy-handed striker. In his post-fight interview, Fiziev called out two-time title challenger Justin Gaethje. Justin Gaethje, he says, presents a more serious challenge than RDA, thanks to his heavy hands and violent, unpredictable style.
“I want a fight with Gaethje, like for real.
Nadal is funny … but Gaethje, if he wants to fight –what camera do I need to [look at]? yeah, this one.
If you want to fight, one more guy with yellow hairs, we need to know who’s the best for you and for me. If you’re ready, if you’re not scared, if you don’t take s***, let’s go.
Fiziev Calls out Justin Gaethje
Fiziev continued, describing Gaethje as “dangerous” despite his “sh*t kicks”.
“I think he makes my face the same like this, maybe more hard.
He’s dangerous. He’s a big challenge for me. He has a lot of chance to knock me out, and I have a lot of chance to knock him out. But yeah, that’s a good fight, for fans also.
He have s*** kicks, but he has good power in his hands.”
Fiziev also described digging deep in the championship rounds to ensure victory over one of the toughest men on the UFC roster.
“In Round 5, my friend and manager and corner, he started to talk to me like his dog, and he started to say to me bad words.
‘He said, ‘Hey, what the f*** are you doing? Go in and f*** him up, or I’ll f*** you up when we go back to the hotel.’ I think, oh, I need to go to Round 5 and do something. He always talks with me like this.
It’s a big difference [fighting five rounds], but yeah, I’m tired. But I got a finish in the fifth round. This means something – I can fight five rounds.”
Rafael Fiziev may well be a dark horse in the lightweight division. A landmark finish like this will almost certainly ensure an elite opponent for his next fight, and if he hands in another performance like this one we may well see Fiziev enter a title conversation that has been dominated by Charles Oliveira and Islam Makhachev for much of recent memory. “It’s a big difference [fighting five rounds], but yeah, I’m tired,” he said. “But I got a finish in the fifth round. This means something – I can fight five rounds.”
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