MMA veteran Justin Gaethje says he is “grateful” to have an opponent this weekend after Dan Hooker was forced to pull out.
Justin Gaethje has praised Rafael Fiziev for stepping up to fight in the co-main event of UFC 313 this Saturday in Las Vegas.
Gaethje was set to take on Dan Hooker in the precursor to Alex Pereira and Magomed Ankalaev’s light heavyweight title fight, but he was left without an opponent when the Kiwi withdrew injured last week.
Fiziev agreed to fight Gaethje in a rematch of their 2023 bout, however, despite being out of the country at the time.
“I’m grateful for Fiziev,” Gaethje said.
“He was halfway — probably more than halfway across the world, however big the world is.
“He took the fight. He came over here. I applaud him for that.
“I love to perform and I was ready to perform. I was trying to make it happen.”
Gaethje won the pair’s first fight by majority decision but heads into Saturday’s bout as an underdog, with UFC betting sites putting the American at +130 to win.
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The fight is Gaethje’s first since his epic clash with Max Holloway at UFC 300, in which he was knocked out with seconds remaining in the fifth round.
Despite the last-gasp loss, the 36-year-old has no regrets and intends to take the same aggressive approach into this weekend’s fight against Fiziev.
“If you’ve ever seen me fight, you know I will accept that challenge every single time,” he said.
“When [Holloway] pointed at the ground, I said ‘yes’ and ran to the middle.
“It’s just what I do. I choose ‘fight’ instead of ‘flight’ every single time, and that’s what I expect from myself: to try and get up.
“I got my ass knocked out last fight and I’m dying to get back in there and get that back.”
Top bookmakers are aligned with Gaethje’s sentiment heading into this weekend, as Fiziev to win by knockout (+187) is the shortest-priced method of victory.
Gaethje scoring by knockout is paying +350 at Nags.bet, slightly longer than the Arizonian winning by decision (+300).
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