Rafael Fiziev News

Chris Taylor - January 31, 2026

We have you covered for all of tonight’s UFC 325 results, including the lightweight contest between Rafael Fiziev and Mauricio Ruffy. Fiziev (13-5 MMA) will be returning to action for the first time since June of last year, where he scored a decision win over Ignacio Bahamondes. Prior to that triumph, ‘Ataman’ was on a three-fight losing skid, this after dropping fights to Mateusz Gamrot and Justin Gaethje (x2) respectively.

Dylan Bowker - January 31, 2026

Rafael Fiziev prepares to do battle at UFC 325, and a training partner of Fiziev’s has weighed in on that high-stakes lightweight contest on Saturday. Fiziev has historically trained at Tiger Muay Thai with the likes of two-time UFC champ Petr Yan, but there is also a Rizin champ out of the TMT fold. Ilkhom Nozimov captured the RFF lightweight title with a thirteen-second KO of Roberto ‘Satoshi’ de Souza at Rizin’s annual New Year’s Eve card to close out 2025. When offering up his thoughts on that Mauricio Ruffy fight coming up at UFC 325, that his TMT compatriot Fiziev will be taking part in on January 31st, Nozimov said [via Bowks Talking Bouts],

Fernando Quiles Jr. - September 24, 2025

Rafael Fiziev is out of UFC Rio and he’s explained why that is the case. Fiziev was expected to share the Octagon with former UFC Lightweight Champion Charles Oliveira. The bout was supposed to take place inside Farmasi Arena on Oct. 11. It was revealed that Fiziev was pulled from the UFC Rio card due to an injury and Mateusz Gamrot has stepped up.

Fernando Quiles Jr. - August 7, 2025

Charles Oliveira won’t be waiting long for his next outing. The official X account of the UFC has announced that Oliveira has been booked to face Rafael Fiziev in the main event of UFC Rio on Oct. 11. It’s clear that “do Bronx” didn’t want to hold off on his return to the Octagon, as the date of his next fight would be just shy of four full months since his knockout loss to Ilia Topuria. It was a rough defeat for Oliveira, and some are already wondering if “do Bronx” is allowing himself to recover.

Harry Kettle - June 23, 2025

UFC lightweight Rafael Fiziev has called out Dan Hooker in the wake of his UFC Baku triumph over Ignacio Bahamondes. Last weekend, Rafael Fiziev finally got back in the win column after three straight defeats. He was able to get past Ignacio Bahamondes and in doing so, he vaulted himself right back into contention in the UFC’s lightweight division. There’s still a long way to go before he can be viewed as a legitimate title challenger, but this is certainly a positive start.

Josh Evanoff - March 11, 2025

Fresh off a loss to Justin Gaethje at UFC 313, Rafael Fiziev is interested in a move down in weight. The 32-year-old striker was last seen in the cage against ‘The Highlight’ on Saturday. Stepping up on short notice, Rafael Fiziev again met Justin Gaethje. At UFC 286 in early 2023, the former interim lightweight champion handed ‘Ataman’ a close unanimous decision loss. Despite entering the bout on just two weeks’ notice, Fiziev was confident.

Cole Shelton - March 11, 2025

The UFC was at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, for a solid UFC 313 card that saw the Alex Pereira defending his title in the main event. In the main event, Alex Pereira was defending his light heavyweight title against Magomed Ankalaev. The co-main event saw a pivotal lightweight bout go down as Justin Gaethje and Rafael Fiziev in a rematch.

Chris Taylor - March 8, 2025

Tonight’s UFC 313 event was co-headlined by a lightweight rematch between Justin Gaethje and Rafael Fiziev. ‘The Highlight’ was originally slated to face Dan Hooker at tonight’s event, but ‘The Hangman’ was forced out due to injury and was ultimately replaced by Fiziev.

Harry Kettle - March 8, 2025

Rafael Fiziev has admitted that the impact of the crowd may have influenced him in his first fight against Justin Gaethje. As we know, Rafael Fiziev will be taking on Justin Gaethje in a short notice lightweight showdown tonight. The two men have met once before and on that occasion, Gaethje came out on top with the win in what proved to be a real all-action affair.

Harry Kettle - March 7, 2025

Justin Gaethje has admitted that his UFC championship hopes are pretty much gone if he loses to Rafael Fiziev. Tomorrow night, Justin Gaethje will attempt to get his UFC career back on track. While he’s already set to go down in history as a mixed martial arts legend, ‘The Highlight’ is coming off the back of a devastating knockout loss at the hands of Max Holloway.

Harry Kettle - March 7, 2025

Rafael Fiziev has revealed that he considers Khabib Nurmagomedov to be the best of all time. He also has a very simple explanation as to why. Throughout the course of his career, Khabib Nurmagomedov was known as one of the best fighters in mixed martial arts. Now, almost five years after his retirement from the sport, he’s widely recognized as one of the greatest of all time. From his fight style to his unbeaten 29-0 record, Khabib did some unbelievable things in MMA – and even in his coaching career, he’s been able to carry that reign of dominance forward.

Harry Kettle - March 6, 2025

UFC star Rafael Fiziev hopes that Justin Gaethje comes ready for war when they collide at UFC 313 this weekend. On Saturday night, Rafael Fiziev will battle it out with Justin Gaethje on short notice in the co-main event of UFC 313. The two men have met once before and in that instance, it was Gaethje who managed to grind out what was a really important win for his title hopes at 155 pounds.

Harry Kettle - March 3, 2025

UFC star Justin Gaethje has promised a return to his violent roots in his rematch with Rafael Fiziev this weekend. As we know, Justin Gaethje will battle it out with Rafael Fiziev at UFC 313. It will serve as a rematch from their battle at UFC 286, when Justin was able to get his hand raised in what proved to be a really competitive encounter.

Harry Kettle - February 27, 2025

UFC star Justin Gaethje officially has a replacement for his co-main event at UFC 313 in the wake of Dan Hooker pulling out of the contest. As we know, Justin Gaethje’s fight against Dan Hooker is off due to a hand injury sustained by Hooker. That left many lightweights vying for the chance to battle it out with Justin on what would be a pretty short notice contest at UFC 313.

Harry Kettle - February 25, 2025

Two top UFC lightweights have offered to step in and fight Justin Gaethje in place of Dan Hooker at UFC 313 next month. In case you missed the news overnight, Dan Hooker will no longer be competing against Justin Gaethje at UFC 313 in March. He seems to have suffered a hand injury that will put him on the shelf for an undisclosed period of time, leaving Gaethje without an opponent.

Harry Kettle - September 14, 2024

UFC sensation Dan Hooker isn’t interested in facing off against Rafael Fiziev in his next fight. Over the course of his last few fights, Dan Hooker has been able to inject new life into his career. While he’s still got work to do before being dubbed a title contender, his victory over Mateusz Gamrot was a real statement of intent. Moving forward, he’ll likely be looking forward as opposed to behind him in the rankings.

Harry Kettle - September 7, 2024

UFC lightweight Rafael Fiziev has teased the idea of what would be a barnburner fight against Dan Hooker. In the last couple of years, Dan Hooker has really turned his career around. He’s put together a nice string of victories and most recently, he was able to overcome Mateusz Gamrot in what proved to be quite the upset. Now, he’s looking ahead to a possible title run, which would’ve seemed insane to consider not so long ago.

Harry Kettle - February 28, 2024

UFC fighter Rafael Fiziev has claimed that the promotion will soon announce a new 165-pound weight class. For the longest time now, fight fans have been of the belief that the UFC needs to introduce a 165-pound division. With lightweight being situated at 155 and welterweight being at 170, some feel as if the gap of 15 pounds is too big. For the longest time, this has been little more than an idea – but as of late, it’s started to gain some traction.