Rafael Fiziev face a setback against Mauricio Ruffy at UFC 325 but a teammate of the former foresees a comeback as being imminent. Daniil Donchenko is the combatant in question and he has a great history of having high-level teammates train along with him, and he has previously described Fiziev as his brother.
While he had a bit of a rough night at the office against Mauricio Ruffy, Fiziev is still one of the top lightweights on the planet despite the recent victory drought inside of the octagon. When detailing his thoughts on that lightweight contest from UFC 325 between Fiziev and Ruffy, Donchenko said [via Bowks Talking Bouts],
“I mean it was great fight. Rafael start to show that he is like over, you know. He was so confident, he go forward from beginning, and I saw like Mauricio was a little bit like, you know, he don’t need what he should do in first round. Because Rafael put too much heavy shots, heavy punches, and then just second round, it was like one mistake from Rafael.”
“Mauricio was special and he use his chance and we all see what happened. But you know one thing that it’s like I say it’s like in poker, you can win all the fight and then just one shot, you know. Just one shot can change everything but I still think, you know, he have this like sometimes; like before he have three losses but you know these three loses, it’s one loses against Justin Gaethje with a sick fight who is like champion right now, interim champion.”
“Second lose, he injured. He won the fight. He just injured you know and then he took like six days short notice from Thailand to US. Don’t forget you have planned for 30 hours you know. 30 hours and then you should fight in Las Vegas in desert. It was sick fight again and he almost beat Justin Gaethje again, you know. Yes of course, he had three loses in a row before but you see this loses it’s crazy and then he beat [Ignacio] Bahamondes.”
Rafael Fiziev is a “more complete fighter than Ruffy, than Benoit St Denis, than Hooker”, per Donchenko
Further delving into the Rafael Fiziev and Mauricio Ruffy bout in the broader context of where Fiziev fits into the overall landscape at 155 pounds in the UFC, Donchenko continued [via Bowks Talking Bouts],
“He showed like he can be like really smart fighter and then with Mauricio Ruffy, he was really good you know. Just like I said, it’s like a poker and I really know that he can come back and go forward and forward. He’s still young, you know. Justin Gaethje, now 37 and he become a interim champion again. So Rafael have at least like five years. So I’m so excited to see his fights again. It makes sense for me to see his fight against [Dan] Hooker and who is there?”
“Maybe rematch with [Mateusz] Gamrot like I don’t know. But he’s really more; for me, he’s really more complete fighter than Ruffy, than Benoit St Denis, than Hooker. He just like; it was like not his day. But he’s more like skills fighter. Because I know how he can wrestle, how he can grapple, and how he can strike. So, let’s see. It just like one step back for sprint up [laughs].”