Rafael Fiziev excited to fight Justin Gaethje at UFC 286: “I want to play with him.”

Rafael Fiziev, Justin Gaethje, UFC 286

Rafael Fiziev is pumped for his upcoming scrap with Justin Gaethje at UFC 286. 

The two lightweights will meet on March 18 at the 02 Arena in London, England.

During an appearance on Submission Radio, Fiziev spoke about his long-awaited fight with Gaethje. 

[Fighting Justin Gaethje is] crazy to me. I can’t believe [it]. When I go into the cage with Justin, when I see him in front of me in the cage, it’s still [going to be] like ‘wow!’.”

Rafael Fiziev Wants to Continue His Six-Fight Unbeaten Streak in a Big Way

Fiziev also said he wants to have a masterclass performance against “The Highlight”. He believes Gaethje has a good style but it comes at a cost. 

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He [has a] very good style…he fights with heart and everybody who fights with heart has a big plus and big minus. Big minus because he fights only with heart. Big plus, you can’t break him because he fights with his heart. It’s very hard to break his mind, break his heart but if you have a good IQ…you can beat him. Easily,” Fiziev said. “I want to play with him…I want to show him [a] masterpiece…the real highlight. I want to show him.”

Fiziev (12-1) is 6-1 in his UFC career. He last fought in July 2022 at UFC Vegas 58, where he beat Rafael Dos Anjos by fifth round KO. Gaethje (23-4) will attempt to bounce back from his recent submission loss against Charles Oliveira at UFC 274. He has 19 knockouts and one submission in his MMA career. 

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Fiziev vs. Gaethje will be the co-main event of UFC 286. Leon Edwards vs. Kamaru Usman for the UFC welterweight title is scheduled to headline the London card.