Rafael Fiziev Considered Featherweight Move After UFC 313
Rafael Fiziev said he was considering a move to featherweight after losing to Justin Gaethje at UFC 313 on March 8, 2025. It was a post-fight possibility, not a confirmed change of division. The lightweight bout was a short-notice rematch, and Gaethje won by unanimous decision.
A weight-class question after the loss
In a March 11 interview with Ariel Helwani, Fiziev discussed the possibility of dropping to 145 pounds. The conversation did not produce a booking: he had not announced a division change, and no featherweight bout was scheduled. The distinction matters because an interview about a possible move is not the same as a confirmed plan from the fighter or the promotion.
Fiziev continued at lightweight
Fiziev’s subsequent UFC appearances remained at lightweight. He returned to action against Ignacio Bahamondes at UFC Baku on June 21, 2025, winning a unanimous decision. After withdrawing from a planned fight with Charles Oliveira later that year because of injury, Fiziev returned in Baku in June 2026 and knocked out Manuel Torres in the second round.
That later record shows the featherweight idea did not become a UFC move. Fiziev has continued to compete in the division where his highest-profile wins and title-contender run took place.
His subsequent fights stayed at lightweight
Fiziev’s next booking provided a practical answer to the speculation. He returned against Ignacio Bahamondes in the UFC’s June 2025 Baku main event, a lightweight contest that he won by unanimous decision. The UFC’s event report covered the homecoming and result, while its official scorecards record a 30-27 verdict from all three judges. This was not a one-off appearance at a new weight; it was a return to the division where Fiziev had been competing before the Gaethje rematch.
In June 2026, Fiziev again fought at lightweight, meeting Manuel Torres in Baku. He stopped Torres with a second-round knockout, according to the UFC’s official results and highlights report and the event’s scorecards. The two Baku appearances, separated by a year, confirm that the 145-pound discussion after UFC 313 did not turn into a UFC featherweight booking. The promotion’s fighter profile continues to list his UFC career at lightweight. Any future change would require a new announcement; the March 2025 interview alone was not evidence that a move had been scheduled. Both subsequent bookings remained at lightweight, with no official announcement that Fiziev had changed divisions or planned to make the featherweight limit. His comments after UFC 313 are best understood as a possibility he discussed, rather than a confirmed change in career direction.
Sources: UFC fighter profile and results; UFC on Fiziev’s return at Baku in 2025; UFC Baku 2026 results.
