Remaining on UFC 313 next week in hasty fashion, Justin Gaethje appears to have candidly accepted to fight Rafael Fiziev. However, his new statement reveals he wanted a different foe. Gaethje, who was scheduled to take on surging challenger, Dan Hooker in a return next weekend in Las Vegas, ultimately saw the clash cancelled.
Withdrawing from the pairing with Gaethje after fracturing his left hand, Hooker’s comeback fight has now hit the skids. And overnight, promotional boss Dana White confirmed Gaethje would remain on the UFC 313 show, against a familiar foe.Battling against Tiger Muay Thai favorite Fiziev for the second time since 2023, Gaethje looks to add a second victory over the former to his resume.
However, if you ask Gaethje his preferred foe for the card, it certainly wasn’t Fiziev. His choice would’ve been #1 contender for the lightweight title or a former lightweight champion Charles Oliveira.“I think for me, off the top of the list was (Charles) Oliveira and (Arman) Tsarukyan,” Gaethje told Pawel Wyrobek.
“Because those are the guys that are ranked ahead of me. The number one, number two contenders, and they’re the guys that if I get a win over them, you know, I get to go exactly where I want to go. And that’s my market share.
”, he added, hopeful of a title shot. It would also appear that the UFC 311 main eventer Renato Moicano had also offered to take Gaethje on, but the ex-BMF champion’s team had to turn him down.Explaining his team’s decis.