‘The Highlight’ has got an unmatched rate of putting on incredible fights when he steps inside the Octagon and this was no different.
Fight fans were expecting yet another all-out war when Justin Gaethje was matched with Dan Hooker in the co-main event of UFC 313 on March 8.
Hooker being out of the fight with a hand injury was devastating news but the conversation quickly turned to finding a replacement opponent.
Gaethje vs Hooker brought high expectations but fortunately for the Octagon’s return to the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, the new matchup follows suit.
Rafael Fiziev called for a rematch with Gaethje and was granted his wish as the two men run back their first meeting from UFC 286 in 2023.
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Justin Gaethje narrowly came out on top against Rafael Fiziev in a classic
Following a six-fight win streak at lightweight, Rafael Fiziev had earned the #6-ranking at 155-pounds but now he faced the task of cracking the top five which had been enclosed in their own mini-division for some time.
With the #3-ranked Justin Gaethje attempting to bounce back from his first-round submission loss to Charles Oliveira the year before, he came in as the underdog for this fight.
Despite the first round, and all three rounds for that matter, being a closely contested back-and-forth striking battle, it was clear that Fiziev held the speed advantage.
‘Ataman’ was unleashing his devastating kicks and firing off rapid boxing combinations which forced Gaethje to adjust his approach after trying to fight on the outside.
‘The Highlight’ quickly realized that his best bet would be putting his opponent on the back foot to try and take away some of his kicks and movement.
Both men had a lot of success with big shots but as Fiziev started to slow down, the balance began to tip slightly in Gaethje’s favor.
In the third round, the former interim lightweight champion showcased his boxing skill with an excellent use of jabs and uppercuts to bust up Fiziev’s right eye and after pulling ahead in the final minutes of the fight, Gaethje even landed his first takedown in the UFC through 11 fights.
The significant strike numbers between them show how close the contest was with Fiziev out landing Gaethje by 4 strikes in the first round and 5 in the second until ‘The Highlight’ piled on the pressure in the third, landing 15 more than the rising contender.
Whilst Gaethje did get the win via a majority decision, the scorecards themselves also show how narrow the contest was through 15 minutes with each card being different to the others.
In his post-fight interview, Gaethje said that it wasn’t his intention to get into another firefight along with joking about the first takedown of his UFC career.
“I literally tried not to do that so the fact that you’re saying it was that, again, perfect dance partner, there’s no way this fight’s not exciting. Got my takedown, everybody can shut the f— up now.”
‘The Highlight’ also took in the moment after getting the win in front of a UK crowd at the O2 Arena in London with one eye on his exit plan from the sport.
“I’m taking one more run at the title but I’m not going to be around much longer so I’m so glad you guys got to enjoy this with me, thank you guys.”
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Justin Gaethje knows what he needs to do in the rematch
After feeling the speed of Rafael Fiziev first-hand, Justin Gaethje now knows that he cannot afford to get into a strike-for-strike kickboxing match with him where ‘Ataman’ can dictate the range.
Both men showed a lot of heart and toughness at UFC 286 but it was the relentless nature of Gaethje going forward and landing that eventually started to slow his opponent down.
Fiziev is so fast and accurate that it means putting yourself in harm’s way to walk him but that’s not something that ‘The Highlight’ has ever backed down from in the past.
We already know that their styles will make for an exciting fight but now we get to see which man can make the right adjustments on March 8.