Rafael Fiziev has raised his hand and now he’ll run it back with Justin Gaethje.
With Dan Hooker out due to injury, Fiziev (12-3 MMA, 6-3 UFC) steps in to fight Gaethje (25-5 MMA, 8-5 UFC) on less than two weeks notice at UFC 313 on March 8 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, the promotion announced Wednesday.
Gaethje and Fiziev first met at UFC 286 in March 2023. The Fight of the Night award-winning bout ended in a majority decision win for Gaethje.
Since then, Gaethje has gone 1-1 with a knockout win over Dustin Poirier and a knockout loss to Max Holloway at UFC 300 in April. Both were “BMF” title fights.
Fiziev has only competed once since the initial showdown. In September 2023, he lost to Mateusz Gamrot when he suffered a torn ACL mid-fight. Fiziev had surgery shortly thereafter and has been mounting a comeback ever since.
With the addition, the UFC 313 lineup includes:
- Champion Alex Pereira vs. Magomed Ankalaev – for light heavyweight title
- Justin Gaethje vs. Rafael Fiziev
- Iasmin Lucindo vs. Amanda Lemos
- Jalin Turner vs. Ignacio Bahamondes
- King Green vs. Mauricio Ruffy
- Curtis Blaydes vs. Rizvan Kuniev
- Brunno Ferreira vs. Armen Petrosyan
- Ozzy Diaz vs. Djorden Santos
- Carlos Leal vs. Alex Morono
- Francis Marshall vs. Mairon Santos
- Bruno Silva vs. Joshua Van
- Chris Gutierrez vs. TBA
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 313.
