UFC Vegas 79 Preview (Fiziev vs. Gamrot)
The UFC is returning to the Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada for UFC Vegas 79. The main event will be a lightweight showdown between two fighters hungry to go on a run to a title shot. #6 Rafael Fiziev will battle #7 Mateusz Gamrot.
Fiziev is trying to rebound from a majority decision loss to Justin Gaethje at UFC 286 in March. Prior to the loss he was on a six fight winning streak and with a win he would have been on the short list to challenge for the lightweight title.
The Azerbaijani fighter believes he learned a valuable lesson in the loss to Gaethje. "I learned to cook some good humble pie," Fiziev said. "Really, I learned in this fight. like, (to) come through my emotions. I don't need to follow the fans, follow the screaming. Sometimes it makes fire too much inside of me. So, yeah, this is what I learned."
Fiziev talked about preparing for a different part of his game. “I’m always learning how to control emotions. I come back now and have to control my emotions, not listen to the people outside the cage, because when you touch him a little bit and many people start screaming, you feel it here (touches chest) and it starts a fire, you want to show more,” said Fiziev.
“We’ll see in the next fight,” he quickly responded when asked how the learning process has been going. “I’m working on it, thinking about it, because it’s so hard to control emotions in a fight.”
The 30-year-old does not have a problem being motivated to get back into the win column. “I lost, so I can talk s*** about it,” began the amiable lightweight, smiling as he voiced his frustrations, much like he would in previous interviews when he was targeting those positioned above him in the rankings. “Some fighters, they can talk s*** about it. But you? Guy who never steps in the cage, never stands in front of somebody who wants to beat your face?”
He succinctly concluded, “I just want to fight with strong guys, and after my fight, I want people to say, ‘Wow!’ That’s it.”
Fiziev has proven in his last two fights that he will not back down from a back and forth battle. With a win over Gamrot he can break into the top five of the rankings and set himself up potentially for a fight with Dustin Poirier or Beneil Dariush.
Gamrot has won five of his last six fights and most recently defeated Jalin Turner by split decision at UFC 285 in March. The Polish fighter wants to prove he is a to contender at lightweight. “I want to make statement in this lightweight division. Of course, I am a professional fighter and for me the most important is to win this fight. But I want to show my shape and good performance, and I want to finish him, Gamrot said.
While he wants to make a statement, he does respect Fiziev. “He’s a real dangerous opponent. A high-level, world-class striker. But I believe I am better all-around fighter. To be honest, I don’t care because of course I have much respect for Rafael, but my wrestling skills kill every striker.”
The 32-year-old has his sights set on champion Islam Makhachev with a win on Saturday. Gamrot said, “I don’t care because my wrestling skills always beat a striker. I am only interested in one guy in this lightweight division, and he’s a wrestler. He is Islam, and I believe he will win against Charles Oliveira. I hope that we meet in the future, maybe next year or two, to two years.”
While critics and analysts believe the champion is the best wrestler in the lightweight division, Gamrot has other ideas. “I think so we’ll see I have to meet him in the octagon and fight with him and then we get the answer who is the better wrestler than myself in my opinion I am the best wrestler in the lightweight Division”
The rest of the main card:
Featherweight - #10 Bryce Mitchell vs. #12 Dan Ige
Women's Strawweight - #8 Marina Rodriguez vs. 10 Michelle Waterson-Gomez
Welterweight - Bryan Battle vs. AJ Fletcher
Featherweight - Ricardo Ramos vs. Charles Jourdain
ESPN + Prelims:
Bantamweight - Miles Johns vs. Dan Argueta
Welterweight - Tim Means vs. André Fialho
Middleweight - Jacob Malkoun vs. Cody Brundage
Heavyweight - Mohammed Usman vs. Jake Collier
Women's Strawweight - Mizuki Inoue vs. Hannah Goldy
Women's Bantamweight - Montserrat Rendon vs. Tamires Vidal
