Justin Gaethje victorious in return, defeats Rafael Fiziev in UFC 313 co-main event
Justin Gaethje is back!!!
The Ultimate Fighting Championship returns to us tonight, March 8, 2025, for UFC 313, going down live from the T-Mobile Arena in Paradise, Nevada.
Headlining the event is a light-heavyweight title bout between champion Alex Pereira (12-2) and no. 1 ranked former title challenger Magomed Ankalaev (20-1-1).
Co-headlining the event was a lightweight affair between no. 3 ranked former interim champion Justin Gaethje (26-5) and no. 11 ranked former kickboxing champion Rafael Fiziev (12-4), a rematch of their 2023 encounter that saw Gaethje the victor via majority decision.
Since that first fight Gaethje had gone 1-1 and Fiziev 0-1; Gaethje defeating Dustin Poirier (KO) in their rematch before losing to former UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway (KO) at UFC 300, while Fiziev injured his knee in his fight with no. 8 ranked Mateusz Gamrot a year and a half ago and hasn’t fought since.
Continue reading to see how this lightweight rematch went down:
Official Result: Justin Gaethje def. Rafael Fiziev via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Fiziev had a good opening round, much like he did in their first encounter.
After surprising Gaethje with a pair of successful takedowns in the first couple minutes of the bout, Gaethje returned to his feet and lost most of the striking exchanges through the first five minutes. Gaethje did land a good right hand in the final minute of the first but spent most of it being picked apart.
Gaethje started to take the fight over in the second, walking Fiziev down landing heavy leather, including a nasty right uppercut that dropped Fiziev and had him badly hurt toward the end of the round.
Fiziev had success early on in the third and final round, landing a number of solid round kicks to the body, and also some good knees to the body while the two were in the clinch. Gaethje started to get his pressure and combinations going again about two minutes in however and won the remainder of the fight, going 2-0 in his series with Rafael Fiziev.
Who would you like to see Justin Gaethje face next?
It wouldn’t suck if the UFC rescheduled his bout with no. 5 ranked Dan Hooker, who he was originally slated to face tonight before Hooker suffered an injury about two weeks ago, forcing him from the bout. It also wouldn’t suck if the UFC decided to give him another title shot and face Islam Makhachev next.
Or should he face someone else?
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