An intriguing matchup between two top-10 lightweights ended in disaster for Rafael Fiziev, who lost his #6 ranking and any momentum he could’ve earned with victory at the weekend after sustaining a nasty ACL injury during round two of his competitive clash with Mateusz Gamrot [7]. It means a lengthy spell on the sidelines, while the Pole will look to build off an unfortunate ending.
Fiziev’s fiery kicks inadvertently see him suffer torn ACL
R2, 2:03 – Mateusz Gamrot [7] bt. Rafael Fiziev [6] via TKO (knee injury)
- Fiziev showed excellent flexibility and awareness to stuff two takedown attempts in the first-round, during a competitive opening stanza
- Gamrot in his post-fight interview: “I wanted to strike with him and thought it’d get faster [the fight intensity] after more time, my goal was to push forward from round three onwards and give what I have to win… it was a bad situation and accident, wish him a quick recovery.”
- Poland international says ultimate goal is to fight for gold against reigning UFC champion Islam Makhachev in future, but ideally wants to test his ground skills against former champion Charles Oliveira next
- “I will be back. I’m just sad because I had a very great camp and was ready to show my best skills,” Fiziev on social media after torn ACL diagnosis leaves him likely sidelined until summer-autumn months of 2024
Mateusz Gamrot prevailed, but the manner of his weekend scalp at Rafael Fiziev’s expense is something he certainly wouldn’t have wanted – having said in the build-up that he wanted a statement performance, not an asterisk next to the victory.
For what it’s worth, the 32-year-old still managed to add to an impressive statistic: taking down all eight of his UFC opponents, Beneil Dariush among them, and was persistent after Fiziev fended off two earlier shots in a first round bubbling up nicely.
He showed a refreshing comfortability to keep the contest standing and exchange with Fiziev at short and mid-range, countering him well while landing a few good right-hands as the pair made adjustments on the fly to one another’s attacks.
Former fighter-turned-coach Nik Lentz told Ataman to let his hands go more in between rounds and capitalise on Gamrot’s positional mistakes, but that was a task easier said than done. It looked like it would take time and patience, and then…
“I know he kicks a lot and prepared very good defence in my gym for that. I like him – we have a good relationship – but a win is a win, so looking forward to the next one.”
- Gamrot on Fiziev’s kickboxing tendencies, which inadvertently set up the finish
Fiziev appeared to overextend on a body kick with his right leg, then instinctively collapsed backwards as he felt his left give way underneath him after planting the foot on the canvas. You audibly heard a loud sound, play-by-play commentators unclear whether it was a fracture or other serious injury, and Gamrot raced to land hammer fists before referee Herb Dean quickly stepped in to prevent further damage.
The leg he planted to throw said kick twisted, and his knee shifted as Gamrot blocked the strike. Yesterday, Fiziev confirmed the worst via his social media: he sustained a torn ACL injury and will be out of action indefinitely with recovery and rehabilitation.
Where does that leave Gamrot? That’s a question only the matchmakers can answer now. He’ll probably feel as though he doesn’t need to defend his ranking again and fight down once more, considering he outworked Jalin Turner [12] last time out.
If he had to, then Arman Tsarukyan [8] comes to mind. The pair combined for a Fight of the Night main event last summer and given the rest of the division’s contenders above him appear busy on their respective trajectories, it would make sense.
Makhachev (c) vs. Oliveira [1] on Oct. 21
Oliveira bt. Dariush [4] at UFC 289 in June
Gaethje [2] bt. Poirier [3] at UFC 291, the following month
Michael Chandler [5] is expecting a Conor McGregor date soon
Poirier said last month he’d be open to facing Dariush – both coming off defeats
Rest of the main card
It wasn’t easy, but Mitchell outmuscles Ige
In the night’s co-main event at featherweight… Dan Ige started better than many expected, utilised his boxing to severely damage Bryce Mitchell‘s right eye – twice needing the doctor’s inspection.
Yet as time wore on, the younger of the two contenders seized upon some stand-up tendencies to overpower and outgrapple the 2017 Contender Series graduate.
Mitchell completed five of his 15 takedown attempts, logged more than five minutes’ control time and while Ige did well to defend some uncompromising positions, it wasn’t enough to give him sway on the judges’ scorecards.
30-27, 29-28, 29-28 was the final verdict as a two-minute dominant grappling sequence for Thug Nasty proved decisive. Afterwards, the 28-year-old declared Ige the hardest hitter he’s ever fought, with impressive grappling defence to boot.
That won’t be much of a consolation for the 32-year-old, now 2-4 in his last six fights, but perspective is needed: they’ve all come against top opposition after all.
Rodriguez’s relentlessness key
Michelle Waterson-Gomez sprinted out of the blocks with a takedown inside the first 30 seconds, but that was as good as it got for the #12 strawweight as Marina Rodriguez [8] was violent and precise with her stand-up skills in their rematch en route to a second-round finish (2:42, TKO via punches) which quickly felt inevitable.
The 36-year-old then called for a matchup against unbeaten contender Tatiana Suarez [3] and spoke through a translator that the 10-0 pro needs more challenges before earning an opportunity to face current champion Zhang Weili for the title.
Yan Xiaonan could be next in an all-China clash, but Weili also said she’s open to facing Suarez during title defence #2 of her second championship reign.
Battle back again
Bryan Battle recovered from absorbing a big elbow flush at the end of a solid-but-unspectacular first stanza to score a second-round submission win (4:32, rear-naked choke) against an undersized and ultimately unsuccessful AJ Fletcher.
The welterweight contender, The Ultimate Fighter 29 winner in August 2021, has won five of his six UFC contests and said he’ll keep improving as the challenges steadily intensify at 170lbs while criticising ranked fighters for sitting on their top-15 standing.
Former two-time bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz [9] criticised Fletcher on commentary for being comfortable to take parts of round two off when pinned down on the ground in the latter stages, which ultimately led to the finish.
Jourdain shows versatility
After a kick-heavy opening minute, there were submission attempts and scrambles aplenty before exciting Canadian featherweight Charles Jourdain scored a first-round finish (3:12, via guillotine choke) against Ricardo Ramos on the ground.
Jourdain fended off a Von Flue submission as he had a guillotine locked in, before a scramble saw him squeeze once more and the 28-year-old couldn’t handle that ground pressure any longer from a striker showcasing new wrinkles to his game.
“I need to have this card [the ability to grapple, be a submission threat] in my pocket, to fight these guys when they wanna take me on the ground.
The youngest Canadian on the UFC roster, with the most wins and fights, I’m very proud of that – the more you grow, you need to get better, I understand now what they mean calling it a game of chess – a very violent one.”
After logging consecutive wins in 2023, the striker used his mic time to call for a matchup against Hall of Famer Cub Swanson:
“Edson Barboza doesn’t want it, let’s fight in Toronto. They deserve a good battle between the new and old school.”
Prelim results
Bantamweight: Miles Johns bt. Dan Argueta via UD (30-27 x 2, 29-28)
Welterweight: Tim Means bt. Andre Fialho via R3 TKO (punches)
Middleweight: Cody Brundage bt. Jacob Malkoun via R1 DQ (illegal elbow)
Heavyweight: Mohammed Usman bt. Jake Collier via UD (30-27, 29-28 x 2)
Women’s Strawweight: Mizuki Inoue bt. Hannah Goldy via UD3 (29-28 x 3)
Women’s Bantamweight: Montserrat Rendon bt. Tamires Vidal via SD (28-29, 29-28 x 2)
Up next: UFC Vegas 80 on Oct. 7, headlined by a lightweight duel between Grant Dawson [10] vs. Bobby Green after a week-long break, following 17 consecutive weekends of promotional events
Picture source: Getty Images
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