Gaethje vs Fiziev

Who won Gaethje vs Fiziev?

Justin Gaethje beat Rafael Fiziev by majority decision in their 3 round contest during the co-main event of UFC 286, on Saturday 18th March 2023 at o2 Arena in London.

The scorecards were announced as 29-28, 29-28, 28-28 in favor of the winner Justin Gaethje.

The fight was scheduled to take place over 3 rounds in the Lightweight division, which meant the weight limit was 155 pounds (11.1 stone or 70.3 KG).

Gaethje vs Fiziev stats

Justin Gaethje stepped into the octagon with a record of 23 wins, 4 losses and 0 draws, 19 of those wins coming by the way of knock out and 1 by submission.

Rafael Fiziev made his way to the cage with a record of 12 wins, 1 loss and 0 draws, 8 of those wins coming by knock out and 1 by submission.

This was Justin Gaethje's 13th fight in the UFC, having made his debut for the promotion in 2017.

Justin Gaethje's UFC record stood at 8-5-0, while Rafael Fiziev's came in at 6-3-0.

The stats suggested Gaethje had an advantage in power over Fiziev, with a 83% knock out percentage over Fiziev's 67%.

If the fight went to the ground, their records suggested Fiziev had a slight advantage over Gaethje, with a 8% submission rate over Gaethje's 4%.

Justin Gaethje was the older man by 5 years, at 36 years old.

Gaethje had a height advantage of 3 inches over Fiziev. Despite this, Fiziev had a 2-inch reach advantage.

Gaethje was the more experienced professional fighter, having had 14 more fights, and made his debut in 2011, 3 years and 10 months earlier than Fiziev, whose first professional fight was in 2015. He had fought 35 more professional rounds, 66 to Fiziev's 31.

Gaethje vs Fiziev form

Justin Gaethje had stopped 3 of his last 5 opponents.

In his last fight leading up to this contest, he had won against Donald Cerrone at UFC on ESPN+ 16 on 14th September 2019 by knockout in the 1st round at Rogers Arena, Vancouver, Canada.

Previous to that, he had beaten Edson Barboza at UFC on ESPN 2 on 30th March 2019 by knockout in the 1st round at Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, United States.

Going into that contest, he had defeated James Vick at UFC Fight Night 135 on 25th August 2018 by knockout in the 1st round at Pinnacle Bank Arena, Lincoln.

Before that, he had lost to Dustin Poirier at UFC on FOX 29 on 14th April 2018 by knockout in the 4th round at Gila River Arena, Glendale.

He had been beaten by Eddie Alvarez at UFC 218 on 2nd December 2017 by knockout in the 3rd round at Little Caesars Arena, Detroit.

Activity check

Gaethje's last 5 fights had come over a period of 7 years, 1 month and 11 days, meaning he had been fighting on average every 1 year, 5 months and 3 days. In those fights, he fought a total of 10 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 2 rounds on average.

Fiziev's last 4 fights had come over a period of 4 years, 5 months and 26 days, meaning he had been fighting on average every 1 year, 1 month and 14 days. In those fights, he fought a total of 14 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 3.5 rounds on average.

What were the odds on Gaethje vs Fiziev?

Justin Gaethje was a 19/10 (+190) underdog going into the contest, while Rafael Fiziev made his way into the ring at 21/50 (-240) with oddsmakers.