Jalin Turner calls out Rafael Fiziev for a “striking battle” in the UFC’s lightweight division: “I want to fight one of the OGs”

UFC lightweight Jalin Turner challenged fellow lightweight Rafael Fiziev to a slugfest, which he believes could strengthen his position in this shark tank of a division.

In an interview with MMA Junkie, the 29-year-old was asked who he would like to see as his next opponent. 'The Tarantula' responded by saying that there are plenty of opponents in the 155-pound division and that he would like to fight some of his past opponents. But, the name that ran through his mind above all others was Fiziev. He said:

"I wanna run back every fight, I wanna fight Dan again, I wanna fight Gamrot again, you know, but I would like to fight Rafael Fiziev. Everybody thinks it would be a great fight and I do too, it'll be a good striking battle. Honestly I was thinking about anybody ranked higher because I wanna fight one of the OGs."

Check out Turner's thoughts for his next fight below (7:58):

Turner desperately needs a win, as the 13th-ranked lightweight has tasted victory just once in his last four fights. Despite Turner competing on the biggest pay-per-view in UFC history, the 29-year-old was unable to capitalize on the opportunity and was defeated by the ground-and-pound of Renato Moicano in the second round at UFC 300.

Meanwhile, the Azerbaijan native must be craving a brutal finish as he has been winless in his two fights, with the last victory coming over an aging Rafael Dos Anjos in July 2022.

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Jalin Turner on why he always trains with the heavier weight class

Jalin Turner spoke at length about him training with heavier guys with Quinton Jackson on the JAXXON Podcast,. When asked why he trains as a lightweight with Khamzat Chimaev, a middleweight, 'The Tarantula' said:

"I’ve trained with Bisping, I’ve trained with Luke. I always train with bigger guys than me. I used to train with Carlos Condit back in the day. I never train with lightweights ever, really. I feel like when I go with bigger guys, I could learn more durability. I just learn different when I train with bigger guys, especially if it’s like grappling, versus like 145ers, I have to be a lot more technical, and fast and my timing has to be on point."

Check out Jalin Turner's comments on his training with bigger guys (23:28):