Rafael Fiziev makes feelings known and expresses gratitude toward Justin Gaethje for accepting short-notice rematch: "You gave me this chance"

Rafael Fiziev recently made his feelings known about his upcoming rematch against Justin Gaethje and expressed his gratitude toward his former foe for accepting the fight on short notice. He noted that he was grateful for the opportunity to avenge his loss and wanted to thank 'The Highlight' personally.

The lightweight clash is scheduled to take place this Saturday at UFC 313 and will serve as the co-main event. The bout came materialized after Gaethje's original opponent, Dan Hooker, was forced to withdraw due to a hand injury and was replaced by No.11 ranked lightweight Fiziev.

During his latest appearance on The Ariel Helwani Show, Fiziev expressed his excitement and gratitude for being given an opportunity to avenge his loss. He mentioned that Gaethje was very kind for accepting the bout knowing the potential risks that can come with a loss:

"This is stars of the stars in this game. And fight with [Gaethje] for me is like, I want to go and shake the hands of Justin and say, 'Bro, you give me this chance again, man? I'm not deserving of it and you give me this chance'. Yeah, I know the situation, you have full camp, you want to fight, you don't want to pull out from this card. But still... thank you so much."

Check out Rafael Fiziev's comments regarding Justin Gaethje below:

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Rafael Fiziev says he was unsure whether he would ever get a rematch against Justin Gaethje

Prior to stepping in to replace Dan Hooker at UFC 313, Rafael Fiziev said that he was unsure whether he would ever get a rematch against Justin Gaethje.

During the aforementioned appearance, Fiziev mentioned that he believed he a rematch was in doubt because he they were too far in the rankings and Gaethje's place in the lightweight title picture made it unlikely:

"This is a miracle, man. For me, it's like a miracle because every time I have some interview, people were saying, 'What do you think about a rematch [against Gaethje]?' I would say no, man, now I'm far from Justin and it cannot happen because I have to win maybe two fights or more if I want a rematch with him... Now it's boom, like that for me. Like, wow, a miracle."

Check out Rafael Fiziev's comments below: