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Rafael Fiziev recently opened up about his future following his loss to Justin Gaethje and made it known that he believes his next bout will be contested at featherweight. He also noted that the move to 145 pounds has been something he has been contemplating for quite some time.
Fiziev's latest bout against Gaethje at UFC 313 came on short notice after he stepped in to replace Dan Hooker. It was a risk as he attempted to avenge his previous loss and get into the title picture at 155 pounds, but he came up short, losing a unanimous decision.
During his latest appearance on The Ariel Helwani Show, Fiziev disclosed that his weight cut was surprisingly easy and that he weighed 161 pounds on fight day despite it being on short notice. 'Ataman' mentioned that he isn't a very large lightweight competitor and believes he could achieve more success with a move down to featherweight:
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"I'm start to think right now about changing weight division because I really cut weight very easy this time and this was short notice... All this week, my nutritionist, Jason, he tried to gain my weight because my weight go low so fast... I think about it long time, yeah, because like I said, I'm not big [in] this division. And my body, I lose weight so easy."
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Check out Rafael Fiziev's comments below:
Rafael Fiziev is confident about excelling at featherweight
Rafael Fiziev also said that he is confident that he would excel with a move down to featherweight.
During the aforementioned appearance, Fiziev mentioned that he likes how he matches up with the top-10 in the division, which includes the likes of Alexander Volkanovski, Diego Lopez, and Movsar Evloev, and believes that he would be a major threat to the other competitors at 145-pounds:
"I wanna fight with top guys... All these guys in top-10, everybody is very interesting. But, you know, man, these guys have trouble if I come there... They'll be in trouble man, everybody."
Check out the full episode featuring Rafael Fiziev's appearance below:
