Rafael Fiziev resumes march to UFC lightweight contention

MANILA, Philippines -- Rafael Fiziev takes his first step back to his juggernaut in the lightweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

A surprising if not controversial setback to Justin Gaethje last March has only fueled his drive and motivation to go back to title contention. The 30-year old Fiziev (12-8, including 6-2 in the UFC) will take on Polish counterpart Mateusz Gamrot (22-2) in the main event of UFC Fight Night this Sunday, September 24 (live at 7 a.m. Manila time) at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

While Fiziev has been knocking out foes in the first round, the loss to Gaethje taught him a valuable lesson – to reign in his emotions. After all, there is always the next fight to look forward to. Besides, he’s young, is in his prime, and a win here and perhaps one more, then he’s on a collision course with current lightweight champion Islam Makhachev.

Fiziev is acknowledged to be one of the best strikers in mixed martial arts. He isn’t going to get cocky toward his Polish foe, who is acknowledged to be not only more experienced, but also more well-rounded.

He knows Gamrot's strengths on the mat, and he doesn’t mind if the fight goes there.

His Polish foe is coming off a win against Jalin Turner also last March.

And that win has done wonders for the confidence of Gamrot, who prior to that was setback by Beneil Dariush.

Still Fiziev is favored.

He had the benefit of seeing him up close in competition before they got to the UFC – at the Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki (KSW) mixed martial arts promotion in Poland where Mateusz went up against some of Fiziev’s teammates at Tiger Muay Thai.

Furthermore, he likes coming from an uncomfortable position – a loss and training far from his homeland of Kazakhstan. He