Justin Gaethje

Justin Gaethje beat Rafael Fiziev on points in the UFC 286 co-main event.

Fiziev started to slow at the mid-way point allowing Gaethje to establish his jab. Justin Gaethje defeated Rafael Fiziev in an extremely exciting lightweight battle in the UFC 286 co-feature attraction at London's O2 Arena. Uppercuts were his best weapons in the opener as Gaethje rolled low.

Justin Gaethje has already had two chances at the lightweight title. However, ahead of UFC 286, he feels confident that he is close to a third crack.

Justin Gaethje and Rafael Fiziev battle it out in the lightweight division at UFC 286. Ben Rajavuori breaks down the fight and shares his best bet.

The danger in a fight with Fiziev is that he's probably the cleanest striker Gaethje has ever faced. That makes me willing to take a stab at the hardest hitter in the division. With an average of one Performance Bonus per appearance, Gaethje has proven that he's a force to be reckoned with in the lightweight division and is one of the most entertaining showmen in the sport. While Gaethje may have been the favorite when the fight was announced, it's hard to see him winning against Fiziev. He has an impressive record, and his head movement and constant movement in the octagon make him difficult to hit. It is the rising star, Fiziev, who is the -240 favorite in this fight.

Check out the live results and highlights for Justin Gaethje vs. Rafael Fiziev from the UFC 286 co-main event.

The face of Fiziev was covered in blood at this point, and Gaethje was feeling himself so much that he even hit a last-second takedown the put an exclamation point on the round. He holds a 1-0 record in pro MMA and holds a purple belt in Jiu-Jitsu. The fight resumed and the athletes went back to trading. On the other hand, Fiziev has some of the most polished kickboxing in the UFC, and Gaethje has shown to be more than willing to take one (or two or three) in order to deliver his own firepower. Fiziev continued to pour it on in the second round, launching lightening quick combos at the former interim champ. Fiziev started to wing heaters at Gaethje, attacking to the head and body, and then following up with hard body kicks.

Gaethje teased his impending retirement as he makes one last run for the UFC lightweight title.

Round 1 likely belonged to Fiziev, Round 2 was a tossup and Round 3 was certainly Gaethje's most decisive round despite the early scare. Gaethje, an accomplished collegiate wrestler, secured the first takedown of his 11-fight UFC career on Fiziev. "I'm taking one more run at the title, but I won't be around for much longer," Gaethje told UFC commentator Daniel Cormier in a post-fight interview at the O2 Arena in London, England. Fiziev repeatedly talked trash between his blitzes while Gaethje maintained a sense of humor despite the grueling pace. Gaethje proved he still has what it takes at the highest level while living up to his reputation as the sport's most violent fighter in a It appeared for a moment that the end was near early in Round 3.

Justin Gaethje picked up a massive win in the co-main event of UFC 286 from the O2 Arena in London, England, defeating Rafael Fiziev via majority decision.…

"Then, after that, there is Poirier that is in front of me, Oliveira in front of me who's going to fight Dariush, and the winner of that fight is going to fight for the title. A fight between the two makes sense, and everyone would be a winner. Now, The Diamond finds himself in a very similar situation. Still, Gaethje understands that his recent losses are going to keep him from a title shot in the immediate future. That loss made it two out of the last three for the always-exciting Gaethje. It was a much-needed bounce-back performance for the 34-year-old.

'The Highlight' picked up a massive win over Rafael Fiziev at the O2 Arena in London after a bloody three round battle with the streaking lightweight contender.

Fiziev started to take over at the start of round two. He even won the UFC interim lightweight title by beating Tony Ferguson at UFC 249 in May 2020. Gaethje appeared to get the best of the early exchanges, at least in the eyes of the 20,00 fans in the O2 Arena, who began singing his name on several occasions in round one.

I literally tried not to do that,” Gaethje said of the wild fight he'd just won.

Gaethje (24-4), a former interim lightweight champion, has won six of his past eight fights, with the two losses coming in bouts for the UFC lightweight belt.

Fiziev (12-2) was riding a six-fight winning streak before Saturday's loss. The victory puts their rivalry 2-1 in favor of Edwards. The welterweight champion defeated [Kamaru Usman](http://www.espn.com/mma/fighter/_/id/3088812/kamaru-usman) by majority decision in the main event of UFC 286 in London on Saturday to complete a trilogy and earn bragging rights over the former pound-for-pound king.