Justin Gaethje Has A New Opponent

Published by Paul Browne on February 27, 2025

New Co-Main Event Set For UFC 313

When the news broke earlier this week that Dan Hooker was out of his upcoming fight against Justin Gaethje, the rumor mill went into overdrive as fans speculated about who might replace “The Hangman” in the co-main event slot at UFC 313 on March 8th.

It now seems we have our answer, following a video Dana White posted on his Instagram account. In the video, he announced that “The Highlight” (25-5 MMA, 8-5 UFC) will face Rafael Fiziev (12-3 MMA, 6-3 UFC) in a rematch of their epic encounter at UFC 286 in 2023.

“This probably already went out and some of you already know, but the new co-main event for March 8th, UFC 313 here in Las Vegas is going to be Gaethje versus Fiziev”, White said in the video. “Gaethje…I don’t know how much I got to sell Gaethje to you. 13 performance bonuses in 13 fights, 20 of his 25 wins are by knockout. And Fiziev in his last fight (against Mateusz Gamrot) was cut short due to an unfortunate knee injury. But prior to that, Fiziev had six straight performance bonuses, including the first time they fought, which was another badass fight. So the co-main event, Fazeev versus Gaethje. We fixed it. That’s a fun one”.

Gaethje Reveals Who Turned Down The Fight

In a post on his X account, Gaethje revealed that a litany of top contenders at 155 lbs had turned down the opportunity to step in and face him next week at T-Mobile Arena.

“Arman (Tsarukyan) and Charles (Oliveira) understandably said no”, Gaethje tweeted. “Max (Holloway) and Dustin(Poirier) understandably said no. Props to Fiziev for volunterring to fly across the world and take this fight. Big risk here for me taking this rematch against an elite striker. Life’s a trip. Best live show on earth going down March 8th #UFC313”.

36-year-old Gaethje’s sole appearance inside the Octagon in 2024 came at UFC 300 in May, where he lost the BMF title to former featherweight champion Max Holloway after being on the end of one of the most devastating knockout finishes in UFC history in the final moments of the fight.

After suffering a majority decision loss to Gaethje in March of 2023, Rafael Fiziev returned in September of that year to face Mateusz Gamrot, only to suffer a catastrophic knee injury early in the 2nd round, resulting in a TKO defeat.

While the original Hooker vs. Gaethje co-main event had been scheduled to take place over 5 rounds next week, the UFC revealed that Fiziev vs. Gaethje will instead now take place over just 3 rounds, given the short-notice nature of the matchup.