Gaethje Vs. Fiziev Predictions – ‘He Can Test The Chin’
Justin Gaethje takes on Rafael Fiziev in their lightweight rematch at UFC 313, as MMA insiders gave their take on the fight.
Gaethje was forced to change his plans after his original opponent, Dan Hooker, pulled out of the fight due to a hand injury. That has given Fiziev an opportunity to run things back following their 2023 clash. On that occasion, Justin secured a majority decision win, but Justin has plenty to prove coming into this fight. He lost his BMF Belt the last time out, as Max Holloway knocked him out at UFC 300. Fiziev has only had one fight since that loss, as he suffered a defeat to Mateusz Gamrot. Here is how other MMA fighters saw the fight playing out.
Gaethje Vs. Fiziev
“This is going to be a fight man. With Gaethje coming in as the underdog, this is easy picking for me. You need to roll with Gaethje, especially coming off of his last fight. He wants to erase that last loss with something huge, so I’m calling this right now. I’m picking Justin Gaethje, and I’m going with his nickname man, he’s going to have a highlight this fight. I think Justin, he’s got a lot to prove. [And] I really can’t wait. I really can’t wait to see Justin go back in there and do his thing,” Holloway said
More Predictions
“I feel like I want to go to Rafael Fiziev just because he’s coming in fresher and he can test the chin of Justin Gaethje. I don’t know how his chin’s going to react to getting hit hard again after what Max Holloway did to him. Or do we go with Justin Gaethje where Justin has had the eight weeks of training.
“He’s been in the trenches, he’s been able to say okay. Hey, we’re going to fight a tall lanky guy. At the end of the day I think I’m going to go Justin. He’s been in the trenches longer. He was preparing for this fight. Rafael is taking this fight on short notice. My pick is going to be Justin Gaethje,” Demetrious Johnson
“This fight is a coin flip because if you sit there and go tip for tat with Rafael, he’s so fast. He’s so explosive. And he’s so good at countering with his kicks. Rafael is a shorter dude Fiziev is only uh 5 ‘8. And this is a coin flip. If I had to pick who’s going to win this fight, God I love Justin, but I think Fiziev might get it done by a decision. I don’t know if he’s maybe a little bit too fast. They felt each other for 15 minutes already. If I had to pick, Fiziev gets it done by decision and ends his two-fight streak. I’m picking it that way,” Tim Welch
Full Card
Alex Pereira vs. Magomed Ankalaev – Light Heavyweight Title Fight
Justin Gaethje vs. Rafael Fiziev – Lightweight Fight
Jalin Turner vs. Ignacio Bahamondes – Lightweight Fight
Amanda Lemos vs. Iasmin Lucindo – Women’s Strawweight Fight
King Green vs. Mauricio Ruffy – Lightweight Fight
Preliminary Card
Curtis Blaydes vs. Rizvan Kuniev – Heavyweight Fight
Joshua Van vs. Rei Tsuruya – Flyweight Fight
Brunno Ferreira vs. Armen Petrosyan – Middleweight Fight
Alex Morono vs. Carlos Leal – Welterweight Fight
Early Preliminary Card
Mairon Santos vs. Francis Marshall – Featherweight Fight
Djorden Santos vs. Ozzy Diaz – Middleweight Fight
Chris Gutierrez vs. John Casteneda – Featherweight Fight
Find all the latest boxing news and MMA breaking updates on boxingnews.com.
