Rafael Fiziev says Justin Gaethje’s recent title upset has given him a major boost of motivation ahead of his next UFC main event.
Fiziev, 13-5 in MMA and 7-5 in the UFC, previously went the distance with Gaethje twice in competitive bouts that both earned Fight of the Night bonuses. After watching Gaethje enter as a heavy underdog and defeat Ilia Topuria by corner stoppage after the fourth round in a UFC lightweight title unification bout at UFC Freedom 250 at the White House, Fiziev said the result hit him personally.
"I'm very happy to him," Fiziev said. "He motivated me with this fight so much. Honestly, I think if he's going to jump into my body one time and feel what I feel after his fight, after that, he's going to hug me and say, 'Bro, thank you for this. Thank you for that, you know, to be happy for me like that because I'm really happy for his win.' He's really motivated me with that win and I'm happy because I fought him twice, and the way he finished the fight. Yeah that's amazing."
"It's making me believe more in my skills, yeah," he added. "It's making me believe for my power more, and like I said, he motivated me a lot with that."
Fiziev now turns that belief toward Manuel Torres, whom he’s set to face in the main event of UFC Fight Night 280 at Crystal Palace in Baku, Azerbaijan. He described Torres as "a strong guy" with "bombs on his hands" who often finishes opponents in the first round, but emphasized his own lifelong commitment to training and said, "I believe for my power, 100 percent."
