Rafael Fiziev didn’t quite get the fight he was anticipating last time around against Justin Gaethje.
The Azerbaijani striker will rematch the American brawler this weekend in a featured bout at UFC 313 from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, two years after he was defeated by Gaethje by majority decision. Now, drafted in as a short notice replacement for Dan Hooker after the Kiwi sustained a hand injury in the latter stages of his training camp, Fiziev says he is keen to address what went wrong for him last time around after 18 months out of the cage.
“All this time, I’ve been waiting for the fights, waiting for some callouts. I see nobody, so I made my decision,” he told the media, including The Mac Life, in Las Vegas late Wednesday. “I had to look at my weight, check my weight every day, watch my weight, and stay in shape the maximum how I can. I believe maybe I’d go short notice because nobody fight.”
He added that Gaethje is the ideal foil for his return from a knee injury he suffered in a bout against Mateusz Gamrot after he told his manager to accept any short notice bout offered by the promotion involving anyone in the top-15. “I’m ready. I just want to go fight.”
In Gaethje he doesn’t just get a fight, he gets an opportunity at revenge. And he knows how he wants the fight to go.
“I like the Justin who goes forward, who makes his house in the Octagon,” he explained. “I waited for that [in] the first fight. I went to the war but he went for the win. If he goes like that, he makes me more happy.”
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