UFC star Rafael Fiziev wants to fight Justin Gaethje to declare the 'nose job king' after both men recently underwent the same surgery.
Fiziev recently picked up the biggest win of his UFC career by knocking out former champion Rafael Dos Anjos earlier this month, but the Kyrgyzstani had a price to pay for the victory after leaving the octagon with a broken nose. Gaethje also underwent nose surgery last week following his loss to Charles Oliveira at UFC 274 in May.
A win over Dos Anjos has pushed Fiziev up to No.7 in the UFC's lightweight rankings, four spots under Gaethje. Playing down potential fights with Conor McGregor and Michael Chandler, Fiziev said he wants to fight Gaethje to test out who underwent the better nose job.
Do you want to see Justin Gaethje fight Rafael Fiziev? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below
“Everyone tries to call out McGregor,” Fiziev on The MMA Hour. “Everyone tries to call him out. I don’t understand it and I don’t want to step in the same way. [Michael] Chandler, everyone wants a fight with him, somebody go and fight with this guy but for me, I want Gaethje now. “Where is Gaethje? I’m wondering why he still doesn’t answer me. He also has the same injury as me. We need to know. We need to find out who is the nose job [king] but he still says nothing.”
“That’s a good fight for him,” Fiziev said. “If he doesn’t fight with me, then who? If he doesn’t fight me, with who you can go into a fight with? With [Beneil] Dariush or [Mateusz] Gamrot? This is not a good match for him. For him, this is a good match with me now, because he likes stand-up fighting. I think I’m the perfect match for him now.”
Gaethje hadn't been able to breathe through his nose for over a decade after injuring it early in his wrestling career. 'The Highlight' hoped his past opponents may have been able to break it for him so he didn't need surgery, but that wasn't the case and he went under the knife to get it fixed. "I’ve been waiting for 13 years for someone in MMA to break my nose and it hasn’t happened,” he said.
"I broke it in wrestling practice 13 years ago, and life’s been hell since then. I have to wear a nose drip to bed every single night. Eating, sleeping, living, training, fighting. I’m not sure. I don’t even know what my f****ng voice sounds like. I’ve been waiting for a long time to get this broken."
