Gaethje (25-5 MMA, 8-5 UFC) was knocked out in the last second of his BMF title fight against Max Holloway last April. Although he was down on the scorecards, Gaethje saw the fight differently when he watched it back for the first time.

UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira and former featherweight champion Ilia Topuria were neck-and-neck for 2024 Fighter of the Year. The Brazilian begins a 2025 campaign he hopes will rival what he accomplished last year when he headlines UFC 313 against top contender Magomed Ankalaev.

It takes a special kind of crazy to want to fight Justin Gaethje even with a full camp. Yet once the door opened to do so on short notice at UFC 313, Rafael Fiziev leaped through it.