For a fighter that just barely turned 30, that fight was definitely a valuable learning experience imo

Even if you think he won or lost this guy proved he’s one of the best LWs in the world and definitely one of the most exciting, the speed of this guy is terrifying

I'm a fan now. His mentality is great. I love that he doesn't want to even entertain the prospect that he won cause he's dissatisfied with his performance. That's good. Means he has high standards and will try harder. Also love how he loves his bloody photo.

Him saying he knows when he lost is so damn refreshing The fact is was a close fight makes it impressive. Especially when Ariel opens up with “I thought you won” Most fighters seem to plead for the W in this situation

Exactly why I’m a huge fan of him and Gaethje.. He’s one of the very few fighters to not say they thought they won. Even a bigger fan and much more respect after 5 minutes of Raf talking

When talking about how his face hurts he said "This is very good humble pie" 😂 callback game on point

Respect! Was straight up in his assessment and didn’t play the blame game of the judges. Sure the Fight could of went either way but Justin definitely did more more of the damage and deserved the W. The idiots saying he got robbed are some of the biggest morons in the world. I have so much respect for this dude

It’s really a breath of fresh air that he actually acknowledged his “stupid decisions”. This kinda acknowledgments usually serves as a motivator for the fighter to become better! I reckon Fiziev will come back stronger than ever, and he’s a future contender for sure!

Gotta appreciate humbleness and honestly in this game

Lots of respect to Rafael. That was a great fight. But the damage just added up. I am excited for his future. “You are a great fighter and you always bring it”

A true man admitting he fall Short on a very close war ... Kudos to him

There is no shame in losing to Gaethje. I think Fiz vs Gamrot next makes sense.

This is the Ultimate RESPECT boost for me! I was a fan and respected him before, but after watching this I just appreciate his mind set and honesty about the way he viewed his own fight! I had Justin Gaejthe winning the fight but man it was an incredible fight! Much love Ariel and Much love to Rafael Fiziev and his team!

Did Ariel make it seem like if it wasnt for the 10-8 he would've won? That isnt the case. He still would've lost a split decision.

Ariel just saying he thought he won cuz Gaethje is under Ali and is friends with Usman. Love Ariel, but he takes his personal issues too far. Fiziev a W for this and giving respect where it’s due.

Anybody that fights any of Ali guys he represents Ariel always thinks they lose and a guy on his show won Anyone ever noticed that

Very rare and unique mindset! This guy is truly a realist and humble.

Extra credit to fisiev for not blaming a shitty decision even after ariels leading question

That's the best thing I heard a fighter say. "I'm a professional fighter, I know if I won or lost". The maturity on this guy is unreal. Much respect to Rafael. I'm definitely a bigger fan of his. He will get better and learn from this fight and def will be a champ in the future

I thought the body shots in the 2nd round outdid Gaethje’s damage but that’s just me. If he sharpens a couple things up, he can be back in title contention very soon.

This is a true warrior, so much respect and also a new fan since this interview. He will be UFC champion sooner or later. Greetings from the basque country

One of the best UFC fights ever and both men are crazy tough. Fiziev is a monster and should hold his head high. First time against top 5 competition, he will learn and hopefully come back stronger. He might have lost the fight but gained a ton of fans (me for sure). Cant wait to see whats next for Fiziev

Fizzy gonna be scary when he levels up from this loss. Dude is a beast 🙏💪🤩

Fiziev looked insanely fast and sharp. He’s definitely the best striker technically speaking at LW. It’s crazy how he wobbled Justin and touched him a lot but he Justin didn’t wear any of the damage. Either way it was a great display. I’m still a little weary of his gas tank since that seems to be the recurring issue in his career so far. Even then I’ll never miss one of his fights from here on out.

For what it's worth.. Amazing fight! Fiziev stock only went up.. I'll always watch him fight.

This guy has won my fan base period but Rapha common man stay humble and get back in there and keep up the amazing 🤩 work I'll be staying tuned for the next fight

Fiziev did great against Justin despite the loss. He took Justin's shots very well and barely got rocked, and he was able to rock justin at times which surprised me since I didn't think his power could match justins. Overall a great learning experience where he will definitely bounce back soon

Justin gave Fiziev a portrait painting for his house. How nice of him!

He definitely underestimated Justin’s toughness…

His speed is incredible. I actually thought he won the first 2.

It was his first big fight in front of millions of viewers. This is where you need your corner to give you proper instruction, to see the occasion is playing with his head. Very close fight though.

What a great chap. He will bounce back

Nobody really lost in this fight . Justin proved a lot of people - me included - wrong . We just forgot what a Beast he was . Rafael proved what we all knew, that he is a Beast as well . The Fans got the best Fight of the Night ... All good .

Lmao Ariel absolutely refuses to do a single interview without trying to bait his guest into ridiculing the ufc

mad respect for Fiziev for being honest about losing despite Ariel trying to convince him otherwise. It was close until the second half of round 3

Thanks for the interview though

Literally laughed out loud and became an instant fan.... "This humble pie is pretty good"

Thank you Ariel for finally clearing up Fiziev’s name annunciation. You can tell Rafa is those young bulls who are still scary, there’s no telling what kind of juggernaut he’s going to be when evolves to his prime, I seriously can’t wait to see whose going to take on Fiziev next if he comes back like a champ. I bet if Fiziev didn’t have a decent amount of fights in the ufc without a crowd (due to Covid) he would’ve shook a couple of more arenas.

one of the best in the lightweight nontheless. He will come back stronger Also just a fact check for Ariel: Even if that judge had given the 10-8 as a 10-9 and given the fight to Fiziev 29-28, the two other judges gave 29-28 to Gaethje without 10-8, so Gaethje would've won split decision with two judges giving to him and one judge giving it to Fiziev.

I actually thought he won rounds 1 & 2. Definitely lost the third round but that puts him up 2-1. Oh well. It's okay brother! You'll come back stronger.

YOU SEE ARIEL. RAFAEL IS A MAN AND U ARE A MOUSE..HE KNEW HE LOST. AND ADMIT IT.

This man is gonna learn so much from this fight. He will only get better.

Ariel asks questions like he’s in a therapy session. 🤦🏽‍♂️

What’s Ariel talking about. If that judge hadn’t done a 10-8 it still would have have been a split decision win for Gaethje

a bit of a tough loss cause he was battering Justin for the first and second rounds and even the beginning of the third. He's definitely up there man he's going to be a title challenger any time soon, much respect Fiziev

Well he didn't complain, when the judge gifted him the victory over Bobby King 👑 green!!!!!💯

This kid did good. It was a fun fight but he couldn't manage to be consistent, not to mention that he had to switch stances because of Gaethje's attacks on his left side of the face. Was surprised that he didn't kick high and instead should have either invited Gaethje to him or pushing the pace higher by not allowing Gaethje to be in the center and work as a counter puncher.

Ariel arguing that a 10-9 round would make Rafael the winner lol no it wouldn’t have. Cmon man, you should know this! Gaethje won 29-28 on the 2 judges scorecards that gave him a 10-9 for the 3rd, and a 29-28 victory. The unwarranted 10-8 scorecard was from the judge who scored it a draw at 28-28. Instead of a majority decision win, it would’ve been a split decision 29-28, 29-28, and 28-29 to Gaethje.

Fiziev is future champ 👍🏼 He is really strong

Ariel is like the ultimate casual lol

I am a fan now that I have seen him fight, I know the top fighters in each divisions but don't know the up and coming fighters until they fight top 5 really. But I am a fan now, plus he is humble and I like how he is taking the defeat

good fight....it was close....make some adjustments....get better....win or learn....all will be fine...you looked pretty good overall...it was close

Different breed over here...Justin is a killer. Not even a mark on his body, flawless victory!

Man, that body language says it all, devastated.

What an awesome guy and fighter! 👏🏾

you got beat! on point right after talking a lot of smack Thanks Gaethje!!

This is what all who fight Justin speak on, that when you're in there he has an abiity to make you fight his fight. And he's much more tricky than it looks. It was a good fight. If Justin had ever been able to be more measured...I wonder what he could have done. What he has done is amazing. But he still was winging so many strikes, completely unnesscarily. All he has to do is just set those strikes up and take 10-20% off the power. It's how he's gotten taken down and in nearly every bad position. But this is about Rafael, I think this was a big step up in attention and just a fight in general. Rafael has a lot he can and no doubt will do. He's very good and very quick....I can see him beating any of the top guys on the right night. But if he continues to evolve and can fix some of those issues he has, he could become champion. I just need to see how he does against a heavy heavy grappler at the highest level.

Good stuff

This guy's answer to did you think you won the fight is the only honest and sincere answer I've ever heard from any fighter ever. Completely changed how I view him, not that I had a negative take. By the way the 10-8 round didn't affect the winner just took the decision from split to majority.

Ariel trying hard to create controversy over the decision “but props to fiziev, he knows”

Great fight, as a fan watching out of colorado of course I have to go for JG but love fiziev as well as I said great fight … the fans win

Great fight. Waiting to see Justin & Kamaru on the MMA Hour for the first time.

Ariel loses all credibility with his ability to accurately judge a fight when he says wild things like Gaelic lost that fight and Fiziev won. Crazy.

Such a refreshing guy. I’m now a fan. ✊

Great credit to Raf for taking the beating and loss like a man. True warrior. If there was 2 more rounds he would've been finished.

After the fight he looked defeated and battered, seemed that the decision didn't annoy him back then

"I love humble pie" Lmao he's gonna get real fat with that pie 😂

Not sure why Ariel keep pushing him to say he won. I really don't see where he won. He definitely won one round, but not the fight

*This guy can fight look forward to seeing him perform again*

How did Ariel say he think fiz won the fight against Justin ? 😂

That damage on his face definitely says “I won” lol

What a guy! Love Fiziev even more now! And Ariel is such a nice guy too man! 🙏🏽🔥 Fiziev will be back and better, like Justin was against him. I like this new Justin tho, he was just pure violence, now it’s controlled violence, picking his shots, Justin v Dustin is gonna be epic 😎 the UFC should make it a 5 rounder 😁

Fair play to both fighters. 2 warriors but it was a clear win for Justin. Close fight but clear win. Justin was so calm and patient while doing more damage and receiving less. I don't know how any judge had it a draw.

Would love to see him vs Chandler now

Gaethje sealed the victory in the 3rd but fiziev is definitely a contender

A loss to Gaethje isn’t gonna drop him much at all

I've bragged on Raphael since observing his 1st UFC fight and thought he'd starch Justin! I'm also a huge Justin G. fan and certainly felt that last round, considering the obvious physical damage, Justin slightly pulled through

Rafael Fiziev makes an honest assesment of the fight. It was close but if you just look at the two fighters at the end of the fight it was clear who imposed the most damage and the take down at the end sealed it. I would fear for his health if there had been two more rounds. Look at what Justin did to Tony Ferguson in five rounds. He will be back and his future has some good things coming but these is no doubt who won this fight.

Fiziev definitely won the first 1 an a half rounds an was like a sniper and Gaethje won 1 an a half rounds but the difference was Gaethje landed the more damaging shots. But now hearing Ariel say fiziev won the fight and he's the one who always says damage is the no 1 criteria and if we go by what Ariel normally says Gaethje didn't have a mark on him and fiziev looked battered Gaethje clearly won an Ariel is inconsistent...

It would have been weird for him to get the decision because of how the 3rd round went. Fiziev knows. You can't get a win when you get battered. And Ariel is wrong. The 10-9 would have made it a split decision loss. But Fiziev is so great to listen to. This guy will be in a championship fight in the next two years. And he's right, he had emptied his gas tank a lil too quickly. He was putting Justin on the back foot which I haven't seen done consistently to him since Khabib did it. But Khabib was pressuring with the grappling threat. Fiziev was doing it with striking. But the way Justin wings punches doesn't drain him. Fiziev is more technical, but also he's carrying more muscle. When he started winging punches as well it looked to drain him.

Charles, Dustin, and Gaethje are just a huge step up from the division

Man what’s a refreshing look

Yes

That why wrestling and jiujitsu is very important in MMA..when u can't win with boxing than u can change to wrestling and jiujitsu to beat u opponent

Awe, I hate to see ppl disappointed 😢 Fiziev still had a great performance...just came dwn to damage 💯 but I was surprised tht Gaethje outstruck him.

Imagine if it was 5 rounds

What a fight! It was awesome to watch

I thought he won the first 2 rounds. No way the 3rd was a 10-8

Did Ariel just say he thought Fiziev won?

You want to give him a lollipop? Because that's how your questions sound, as if you're talking to a child.

Justin took that fight in the 3rd round. That was a well earned victory for Gaethje. Respect Raphael for a great fight. That picture is beautiful. War paint.

If the one judge that gave Gaethje a 10-8 gave him a 10-9 instead, Gaethje still would have won…

He will learn from this

I thought he lost the fight, but I like that he didn't make excuses. Respect.

Nice guy good Ramadan brother

Gotta respect Raphael he's still young and very talented not that he did but it's never a good idea to underestimate your competition Justin is equally talented but he is also a veteran of the sport great fight either way

Ariel c'mon man you dont need to sook up to fighters, you're the top MMA journalist. Even he knows he lost so don't say he won, there's no need, he would still be on the show and he would probbly respect you more for being honest

Yes, it is a beautiful picture.

I was all for Justin to win but this lad is pure class in and out the octagon .

Ariel “you know whatamean?” Helwani 🐐🐐🐐