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 14th fight in the UFC, having made his debut for the promotion in 2017. Rafael Fiziev marked his 10th fight for them, having made his own debut for the promotion in 2019.

Justin Gaethje's UFC record stood at 9-5-0, while Rafael Fiziev's came in at 6-4-0.

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 4 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, 69 to Fiziev's 34.

Activity check

In terms of activity leading into the fight, Rafael Fiziev had been fighting more than Justin Gaethje.

Going to this contest, Justin Gaethje had last fought 6 years, 8 months and 5 days ago, while Rafael Fiziev's last outing had been 2 years, 9 months and 21 days ago.

Gaethje's last 4 fights had come over a period of 7 years, 9 months and 23 days, meaning he had been fighting on average every 1 year, 11 months and 14 days. In those fights, he fought a total of 10 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 2.5 rounds on average.

Fiziev's last 4 fights had come over a period of 4 years, 9 months and 12 days, meaning he had been fighting on average every 1 year, 2 months and 12 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.