It’s been a challenging two-and-a-half years for UFC lightweight Rafael Fiziev, who, despite going toe-to-toe with some of the division’s best, has come up short in each of his last three Octagon appearances.
Those setbacks include a pair of decision losses to former interim lightweight champion and former BMF champion Justin Gaethje, along with a TKO loss to Mateusz Gamrot after suffering a knee injury in the second round.
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Fiziev has taken lessons from each of those fights, but the stretch without having his hand raised has clearly struck a chord and has only made him hungrier to return with a statement victory in his next outing.
“Last three years, I don’t have a win,” Fiziev said. “I don’t feel the win feeling when the referee puts your hand up. This makes me sad. Sometimes I stay in my home and look into the mirror and say, ‘Come on. You have to smash somebody, and you have to get back this feeling.’ There’s only this moment. I really miss this feeling. This motivated me a lot. It made me more smart, more beautiful, but, at the same time, crazy.”

Not only is Fiziev fueled by his recent setbacks, but his return also marks a milestone as he steps back into the Octagon at UFC’s historic first event in Azerbaijan, the country he proudly represents. He’ll face rising star Ignacio Bahamondes in the co-main event, a matchup that promises fireworks for the local crowd.
Training out of Phuket, Thailand, Fiziev typically only visits Azerbaijan during breaks between camps, when he’s looking to unwind and enjoy life outside the cage. So, when he first arrived in Baku for UFC fight week, the experience felt a little surreal. But as fight night draws closer, his excitement for competing with home field advantage has started to build.
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“I’m very excited to fight in front of my people who supported me in life,” Fiziev said. “My family is here, my friends are here. They’re gonna come watch my fight in real life. It’s pushing me. It’s motivating me.
“When I got outside, people stop me everywhere. I cannot walk like normal people. This is what I wanted since my first fight when I was 11 years old. Now I get it. I’m enjoying.”
Fighting on home soil can be a challenge for some athletes, though, with added obligations and the pressure of performing in front of friends and family. However, Fiziev embraces the spotlight.

“I’ve fought since I was 11 years old, and that’s why I don’t have pressure,” Fiziev said. “Doesn’t matter if you fight in America, Canada, still everybody is watching you online. For me, it’s not stress, no pressure, I just love it so much when I start to walk to the cage. I hear my walkout song, and I start enjoying. I’m like an actor who starts to work.”
The fight itself has Fight of the Night written all over it. Being the smaller fighter against a 6-foot-3 Bahamondes, Fiziev knows he’ll have to lead the dance. This should produce a head-on collision with the Chilean, who rarely is on the back foot.
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“Ignacio, he’s a big, hard guy,” Fiziev said. “When he's in the cage, he always goes forward. He doesn’t try to put himself in the fight to be safe. He’s ready to fight. He has a big heart. He says yes to fight me in my home. Flight from America to come here. It’s a big risk for him and I’m sure in his career, he hasn’t fought fighters like me. It’s going to be a tough night for him.”
While you’d think Fiziev would want to get his hand raised by any means possible, a boring decision is not on his cards. Regardless of his recent skid, if it’s not a beautiful performance, Fiziev doesn’t want it.