For now, Rafael Fiziev‘s answer to any fight is no… regardless of how massive.
‘My Knee Is Still Not Ready’
The #8 ranked UFC Lightweight is coming off a nasty knee injury in his last fight vs. Mateusz Gamrot. Before the setback in September, Fiziev was fighting the lightweight elite in Justin Gaethje, Rafael Dos Anjos and other contenders.
Even after two straight losses in the Octagon, the UFC has no problem giving ‘Ataman’ all of their best. Fiziev recently revealed in a new interview with ‘The AllStar’ that he was offered former interim champion Dustin Poirier, but had to turn it down as he’s still on the road to recovery.
“Oh my god, bro. This one is making me sad so much,” Fiziev said, when offered Poirier. “When my manager called me and he’s saying, like, ‘hey, they want you to fight against Poirier, and he’s ready. I’m like, bro. You know how many times I was really, really sad? Because in UFC, first time when he send me contract, hey, you wanna fight [at] UFC London before starting before my debut? Like next day, I tear my knee. I’m really, really sad.”
“Now it’s the same. I wanna fight. I’m happy to fight against Poirier [but] my knee is still not ready. I’m like, my god. But, I’m also happy because UFC still believe me after after 2 losses in a row. So, they still wanna give me good fight, good opponents. That’s good.”
Fiziev Also Thinks He Will Fight Saint Denis (At Some Point)
With Fiziev out of the running, Poirier will instead face the rising Benoit Saint Denis at UFC 299. Fiziev has a feeling he’ll run into the Frenchman, too, in due time.
“I feel like this guy, soon I see his face like really, really close,” Fiziev said of Saint Denis. “Sometimes it’s have it happens like that because, uh, I think we are fighters we feel something when we’re if we have on the future… a fight, we feel it sometime. I think I fight him also.”
The Lightweight Landscape
Saint Denis vs. Poirier isn’t the only top contender fight that’s going on in the lightweight division. At UFC 300, Charles Oliveira is fighting Arman Tsarukyan and Justin Gaethje defends the BMF title against Max Holloway. Fiziev believes the once clogged-up division is starting to take a new form.
“Now it starts. Oliveira-Tsarukyan, Olivera-Beneil, me and Gaethje, Saint Denis-Poirier, that’s going good. I think, like, one more year and everything changed, like too much, so much.”
Fiziev’s New Mentality Isn’t A Picky One
As for who Rafael Fiziev will fight in his return, the lightweight wouldn’t mind rematching Mateusz Gamrot after his unfortunate injury. But overall, the opponent doesn’t matter too much for ‘Ataman’ anymore.
“Honestly, I don’t think about this guy or this guy or this guy. I just changed my mind. Now I wanna fight just who’s ready? Let’s go. I don’t wanna like wait somebody or this. Oh, I wait for this guy or he win or— no. When I can, when I’m ready, I tell, like, okay, let’s go.
“Number 15, [Jalin] Turner, like whatever. 15, 14, 17. Let’s go. Doesn’t matter. I like it so much when I talk with 170 champion in Bellator, Jason Jackson. He tell me like, bro, ‘for what? Why do we think a lot of about numbers? I just wanna fight next.'”
