Justin Gaethje has fired back at Rafael Fiziev after the lightweight contender claimed that the reigning UFC BMF champion had run away from him during their clash at UFC 286 back in March 2023.
A highly anticipated lightweight bout between Gaethje and. Fiziev was featured as the co-main event of UFC 286 which took place in London. The fight had substantial grudge buildup and after a very competitive contest between the two 155 pounders, it was “The Highlight” who had the last laugh, winning the bout via majority decision.
After almost a year since the fight,Fiziev opened up on his defeat. Speaking to The AllStar, “Atamn” dropped a fiery statement on Gaethje, claiming that he ran away from Fiziev during rhe fight.
“[Gaethje] ran away from me for 2 rounds. He started to win only after an eye poke because my eye couldn’t see anything. I couldn’t see anything with my right eye. He fought good only after the eye poke and round 3 when I started to get tired” said Fiziev.
The comments from Fiziev soon came under the radar of Gaethje, who took to X to issue a heated response to the Azerbaijani fighter.
“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,” wrote Gaethje in a retweet of Fiziev’s interview.
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
Justin Gaethje vs. Rafael Fiziev: what actually happened
The Gaethje vs. Fiziev bout at UFC 286 was an entertaining one. In the fight, Gaethje led the significant strikes 54 to 38, and scored 10-8 in the final round from one judge, while also maintaining the upper hand in competitive striking throughout the remaining rounds.
The win over Fiziev was followed by Gaethje locking horns against Dustin Poirier for the symbolic “BMF” title at mUFC 291 in July, in which Gaethje secured a 2nd round head kick KO win over Poirier.