Fiziev needs to go down to FW

[Trabaho]

I agree Justin looked significantly biger. Fiziev should do a bigger weight cut or get down to 145.

His biggest problem in this fight was typically for Muay Thai - close range boxing. If he can't put trade Justin at least stay on the outside. Muay Thai guys traditionally are more kickers and diverse striker. Justin beat him with pure simple boxing in close quarters in that third round.

 

[Rektkid]

He's built like a fire hydrant so size isn't the issue. He's always had overrated KO power but he fights like he really believes he's a KO artist so he rarely fights tactically. It doesn't help with his cardio issues.

He has tremendous athletic capabilities and combinations with an amazing chin but he never has and just doesn't look championship material.

A grappler would suffocate the life out of him and even in pure striking I think people like Turner would out-hurt him.

 

[DragRacer]

Volk should be at 135 because he’s short

 

[Pancake Sprawl]

Yeah, he's spent a lifetime competing in fights that are three, 3 minute rounds so it makes sense that he has about 7-8 minutes of cardio in him before fatiguing, when you consider the additional 1 minute break he would get in Muay Thai. Basically he hasn't or can't adjust his cardio to MMA optimally even after all this time. Which is common, many wrestlers careers fail because of this as well. I didn't like Fiziev's ability to get extension on his punches either, he reminded me of an old Mike Tyson quote from his amateur days "Tyson, not a boxer who throws many jabs" I don't feel like Fiziev builds with his striking in a tactical way, he seems so reliant on his athletic gifts....which fade as his conditioning does. Meanwhile Gaethje was tired but could still fight much more effectively.

I don't think Fiziev is making 145lbs very easily and he will give up that speed advantage and jeopardize his cardio even more cutting all that weight. He's also so god damn thickly muscled you have to wonder if that itself just limits his cardio ceiling. But I think if he built more off basics and was more tactical and chose to use his explosivity in key moments maybe he could get a little further but honestly...I think this performance probably makes him more of a "fun fighter" athletic, explosive and technical striker with solid takedown defense but bad cardio and mediocre defense. He also, yeah, he isn't exactly solving problems when he's out there which is so crucial to success at higher levels.

yeah he doesn't have much nuance to his game. he needs setups/traps for his striking and it would make him much more dangerous.

 

[HHJ]

yeah he doesn't have much nuance to his game. he needs setups/traps for his striking and it would make him much more dangerous.

Yeah he relies on speed,and he DEFINITLEY has that shit,but in the 3rd his output slowed,and he got eaten up

 

[HuskySamoan]

yeah he doesn't have much nuance to his game. he needs setups/traps for his striking and it would make him much more dangerous.

I just don't expect him to both optimize his cardio, adjust his style and find some amount of depth and tact to his striking at 30. It could happen but he's been striking this way for a long time. He has built his game around his natural talent and it has very clear limitations. It's just one of those things...it works for you at high levels for years and becomes baked into your fighting DNA and way down the road you find out there's limitations and start hitting walls...Rarely does shit like that get fixed or do fighters change in meaningful ways. It's why developing as a fighter and being around the right coaches and minds and teammates is so damn crucial. Everyone I hear say "he's 27, he has time it's fine, he can work on X and improve Y" I think they're lunatics. You need to be ontop of everything and training ravenously but also with the utmost structure, purpose and thoughtfulness.

 

[TCE]

Fiziev still had plenty of chances to get to Gaethje he just didn't. it's not like Gaethje was evading all the strikes, Fiziev just punched himself out before Gaethje got cracked badly.

He "punched himself out" trying to hit Gaethje. So Gaethje was essentially evading all of his power punches. So he really wasn't in any danger to "get cracked badly".

Gaethje was on point tonight.

 

[Takes Two To Tango]

He looks all shredded at 155. He might die trying to cut to 145.

 

[CptHowdy187]

Taller =/= bigger.

 

[Cpt Migraine]

How does this happen? Every time!?

Fiziev is a muay thai champion = better striker than justin gaethje, the brawler, by some margin..

Fiziev gets outstruck in a striking battle and great fight..

Somehow gaethje still isn't that good, it must be fiziev that needs to change weight class or camp.. fucking idiots..

 

[Banana Tree's Nemesis]

explosive and technical striker with solid takedown defense but bad cardio and mediocre defense.

I find bad cardio a bit harsh. He fought 10 minutes throwing absolute heat and then declined into throwing like 90%-ish at 2/3 of the volume. Imo it's a lack of pacing more than anything. If he is able to implement a little bit of shot selection, he can fight 3 rounds just fine.
Also who has the goddamn guts to pushback Justing freakin Gaethje in the third while clearly gassing.

But sure, his angles are his money and if his opponents retreat after exchanges just like he does, he loses that quite a bit. And then his punches were somewhat swung eventhough his swings are still cleaner and tighter than some guys crosses. Maybe he was a little excited, idk. Lacked a bit off linear punches for sure.
I wanna watch that one back though. Considering some of the reactions from Gaethje it seemed wildly unproportional how their faces looked after the fight.

 

[HHJ]

I find bad cardio a bit harsh. He fought 10 minutes throwing absolute heat and then declined into throwing like 90%-ish at 2/3 of the volume. Imo it's a lack of pacing more than anything. If he is able to implement a little bit of shot selection, he can fight 3 rounds just fine.
Also who has the goddamn guts to pushback Justing freakin Gaethje in the third while clearly gassing.

But sure, his angles are his money and if his opponents retreat after exchanges just like he does, he loses that quite a bit. And then his punches were somewhat swung eventhough his swings are still cleaner and tighter than some guys crosses. Maybe he was a little excited, idk. Lacked a bit off linear punches for sure.
I wanna watch that one back though. Considering some of the reactions from Gaethje it seemed wildly unproportional how their faces looked after the fight.

Agreed

 

[HuskySamoan]

I find bad cardio a bit harsh. He fought 10 minutes throwing absolute heat and then declined into throwing like 90%-ish at 2/3 of the volume. Imo it's a lack of pacing more than anything. If he is able to implement a little bit of shot selection, he can fight 3 rounds just fine.
Also who has the goddamn guts to pushback Justing freakin Gaethje in the third while clearly gassing.

But sure, his angles are his money and if his opponents retreat after exchanges just like he does, he loses that quite a bit. And then his punches were somewhat swung eventhough his swings are still cleaner and tighter than some guys crosses. Maybe he was a little excited, idk. Lacked a bit off linear punches for sure.
I wanna watch that one back though. Considering some of the reactions from Gaethje it seemed wildly unproportional how their faces looked after the fight.

Everyone's weird about criticizing cardio for whatever reason. He's the deal, at the top levels if you fat when at a high pace, people weaponize that against you. When at a high clip or pressed, Fiziev begins to visibly fade before the 10 minute mark routinely and his style doesn't do well when he slows down since he literally relies on his speed and reflexes for both his offense and defense and doesn't work behind the fundamentals the best either. It's a huge problem about his game, whether I say "it's bad" or "could use work" I'm just trying to very clearly convey my point.

 

[checktheknuckles]

He's only small in height. I wouldn't be surprised if that guy is ripped at 180lbs. He's built like a tank.

Thats Fiziev problem. He is too thick at LW. Slim up a bit and drop to FW and should have even more speed and hopefully better cardio. His cardio has failed him at LW. He always gasses out and hasn't even went 5 rounds yet.

 

[Pancake Sprawl]

He "punched himself out" trying to hit Gaethje. So Gaethje was essentially evading all of his power punches. So he really wasn't in any danger to "get cracked badly".

Gaethje was on point tonight.

nah, Fiziev landed a lot in the first rd and he did hurt Gaethje in rd 3, he just had nothing left to capitalize on it. but i agree Gaethje was on point.

 

[Banana Tree's Nemesis]

Everyone's weird about criticizing cardio for whatever reason. He's the deal, at the top levels if you fat when at a high pace, people weaponize that against you. When at a high clip or pressed, Fiziev begins to visibly fade before the 10 minute mark routinely and his style doesn't do well when he slows down since he literally relies on his speed and reflexes for both his offense and defense and doesn't work behind the fundamentals the best either. It's a huge problem about his game, whether I say "it's bad" or "could use work" I'm just trying to very clearly convey my point.

Aight, got you.
I wouldn't disagree.
I'd still say it's rather a lack of pacing, which is probably a little easier to fix than a general cardio issue.
To me it seems almost like he digs himself into a Justin Gaethje type of situation, because I genuinely don't remember him getting pressed back like ever.
He marches at all cost in the later rounds although he does much better picking his shots.
I don't know about you, but I had 1 & 2 for Rafi. And round 3 I felt like he kinda pushed forward in search for a finish although that resulted in him getting outjabbed significantly.
Haven't seen much critique about it, but although that last round was clearly for Geathje, I find a 10-8 pretty wild.

 

[SharpasaRazor]

Fighters have two options on sherdog after a loss
1. drop a weight class
2. go to Bellator

lmao

Yeh like I was gonna say this is a bit of a fuckin drastic response to losing a competitive fight to one of the world's top LWs. Maybe just heal up, work on some stuff in the gym then fight another contender and we'll see where we go from there.

 

[HHJ]

Fighters have two options on sherdog after a loss
1. drop a weight class
2. go to Bellator

lmao

change the rule
ban the technique

 

[UFCIsNOTRigged]

You can't tell me a dude with his frame can't make 145. He is a very small lw. I actually think he would be a huge contender at fw and be a problem for everyone there. Get your diet in check and do the cut.

So Fiziev who was noticeably physically stronger than Gaethje and won every single tie up, it was quite literally the only range at which he got off meaningful damage, should dramatically alter his body composition so he can fight guys two inches shorter on average?

I must be missing something because I don't see how this would benefit Fiziev.

 

[Conan the K-9]

Looks like Rafa and Arman have a very similar build and size, their cardio is similar too. Only difference is that one wrestles and the other one is a pure striker.

Rafa also has something similar with Costa, I think it must be the volume and the same commitment to all of his punches. Like he throws everything really with same power.
Both are really no KO artists with their hands (Rafa has KOs with knees and kicks), but they have great volume. Rafa is obviously the better technical striker and their style is not the same, but their cardio is some how similar and I think it must be because of the volume. They all need to learn how to pace them selves for more than two rounds.