Justin Gaethje's self-deprecating humor in response to Rafael Fiziev's confusion about fight odds sparks wholesome reactions: "Chill dude"

Justin Gaethje and Rafael Fiziev were seemingly involved in a segment, which was deemed heartwarming by many, ahead of their highly anticipated rematch that goes down at UFC 313. Fans soon chimed in with wholesome reactions to the segment.

Their first encounter, in March 2023, witnessed Gaethje defeat Fiziev via majority decision. Coming to 2025, the American was originally scheduled to face New Zealand's Dan Hooker in the co-headlining match of UFC 313 (March 8, 2025). However, a hand injury ruled Hooker out. Azerbaijan's Fiziev stepped in to face Gaethje in a rematch, which is the new co-headliner for UFC 313.

During the UFC 313 pre-fight press conference, Fiziev responded to the oddsmakers having him as the favorite to win the rematch. 'Ataman' indicated that he's coming off a pair of defeats, suffered a vicious knee injury in his last fight, and hasn't fought in a while; which is why he was puzzled as to why he was the favorite.

Also, the consensus was that Justin Gaethje previously beat him, adding to the confusion as to why Fiziev was the favorite and the American was the betting underdog. For his part, Gaethje opined that it's probably because he got knocked out cold in his last fight, a fifth-round KO defeat against Max Holloway in their BMF title matchup in April 2024. 'The Highlight' self-deprecatingly jested:

"I think it's 'cause I went to sleep last fight ... I'm pretty sure it's 'cause I went to sleep last fight."

Watch Gaethje and Fiziev discuss the topic below:

Fight fans weighed in on the seemingly friendly interaction between Justin Gaethje and Rafael Fiziev. One X user hailed Gaethje for his sense of humor, whereas another seemed to lightheartedly suggest that the two fighters' verbal exchange was rather awkward. A commenter tweeted:

"That was a hilarious exchange"

One observer praised the segment for its wholesomeness and asserted:

"Very wholesome in a way that can only happen in combat sports."

One fan proposed that Gaethje and Fiziev ought to co-host a podcast:

"These 2 need their own podcast together"

A commenter alluded to their straightforward approach to their recent setbacks inside the octagon and noted:

"Just a couple dudes keepin it real"

Another fan wrote:

"Chill dude"

Check out the screenshots of a few reactions below:

Screenshots of tweets

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UFC 313 co-headliner Justin Gaethje's recent joke about watching his fight against Max Holloway

During the UFC 313 media day earlier this week, Justin Gaethje cracked a rib-tickling joke about how he dealt with the potentially traumatic experience of watching himself get knocked out in his most recent fight. 'The Highlight' acknowledged his buzzer-beating knockout defeat against Max Holloway.

The former interim UFC lightweight champion implied that he watched his fight against Holloway only till the final 10 seconds of its final round, as he was caught and KO'd during the closing seconds of that fight. Joking that it was how he steered clear of the possible trauma from revisiting the time he got rendered unconscious, Gaethje said:

"Well, to be fair, I did stop it with 10 seconds left. I've seen that part plenty of times."

Watch Justin Gaethje discuss the topic below (2:52):