Rafael
Fiziev and Justin
Gaethje are going to run it back.
Advertisement
Fiziev will replace the injured Dan Hooker
and face Gaethje in the lightweight co-main event at UFC 313.
While Hooker vs. Gaethje was slated for five rounds, the new
booking is scheduled for three. The promotion announced the bout on
Wednesday.
UFC 313 takes place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on March 8
and is headlined by a light heavyweight championship clash between
Alex
Pereira and Magomed
Ankalaev.
Fiziev dropped a majority decision to Gaethje in their first
meeting at UFC 286 in March 2023. In his next outing, “Ataman”
suffered a knee injury in a TKO loss against Mateusz
Gamrot at UFC Fight Night 228 in September 2023. The
31-year-old Kazakhstan native, who won six of his first seven
Octagon appearances, has been sidelined since then.
Gaethje, meanwhile, is coming off a fifth-round knockout loss to
Max
Holloway in a BMF title bout at UFC 300. The two-time
lightweight title challenger owns other notable victories over the
likes of Dustin
Poirier, Michael
Chandler, Tony
Ferguson, Donald
Cerrone and Edson
Barboza, to name a few.