Rafael Fiziev thinks Justin Gaethje fought him afraid at UFC 286.
Gaethje (25-4 MMA, 8-4 UFC) rallied to edge out Fiziev (12-2 MMA, 6-2 UFC) by majority decision this past March in London. Fiziev claims that a Gaethje eye poke is what caused the tide to turn.
“He ran away from me for two rounds,” Fiziev told The AllStar. “He started to win me only after eye poke, because my eye doesn’t see anything. There was a big white circle on my right eye all fight. I didn’t see anything with my right eye.
“He fought only good after the eye poke and Round 3 when I started to tire. But he ran away two rounds. He run, run, run. Yeah, maybe my game plan was sh*t and I did a lot of sh*t in this fight; didn’t listen to my corner, didn’t follow my game plan. But still, he ran away for two rounds.”
Gaethje fired back upon hearing Fiziev’s comments.
“Not a good look here. I hit him so hard he forgot which eye got poked. Your right eye got torched by my right hand kid.”
Not a good look here. I hit him so hard he forgot which eye got poked. Your right eye got torched by my right hand kid. https://t.co/43alvo2m6R
— Justin Gaethje 🇺🇸 (@Justin_Gaethje) January 31, 2024
No switch up. He’s very talented. I think he is making a mistake in not looking forward to the future which can be very promising for him. I’m surprised he is saying this as it was clearly the other eye 🤷♂️
— Justin Gaethje 🇺🇸 (@Justin_Gaethje) January 31, 2024
Since then, Fiziev tore his ACL in a injury TKO loss to Mateusz Gamrot this past September in the UFC Fight Night 228 headliner. Gaethje went on to knock out Dustin Poirier to capture the BMF title at UFC 291. He is scheduled to defend his BMF title against Max Holloway April 13 at UFC 300.
