Rafael Fiziev is already talking title shots.
The No. 10-ranked lightweight is expected to battle former division champion Rafael dos Anjos in the upcoming UFC Vegas 58 headliner in July, then hopes to make a quick turnaround later this year to lay waste to another top 155-pound contender.
Like No. 3-ranked Justin Gaethje.
“If everything goes good I see one more fight and fight for the belt shortly,” Fiziev told Submission Radio. “Maybe Gaethje next one. We’ll see. But after this fight, if all goes well, I want one more fight and then a title shot. Bro, Gaethje, he’s crazy. He smokes a lot, or he eat punches a lot? I don’t know what he does, but sometimes he talks shit and then I don’t understand him. ‘Oh, I’ll make hell for Khabib’ … what you make hell for him? You’re going for a triangle and you’re going to sleep, and same with Oliveira. He’s just talking. Maybe I fight with him and he’s again talking and he tries to put you through hell, and this is paradise again.”
Gaethje is coming off a submission loss to Charles Oliveira at UFC 274.
Fiziev (11-1) got a rude welcome to UFC when Magomed Mustafaev cleaned his clock in April 2019. Since that debut loss, “Ataman” has been nothing short of spectacular, racking up five straight wins with two highlight-reel knockouts (including this showstopper).
Then again, none of this matters if Dos Anjos shines this summer in “Sin City.”