Justin Gaethje’s official replacement for UFC 313 fight revealed

UFC star Justin Gaethje officially has a replacement for his co-main event at UFC 313 in the wake of Dan Hooker pulling out of the contest.

As we know, Justin Gaethje’s fight against Dan Hooker is off due to a hand injury sustained by Hooker. That left many lightweights vying for the chance to battle it out with Justin on what would be a pretty short notice contest at UFC 313.

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The winner of that tussle, it turns out, was Rafael Fiziev, as announced by the UFC. The two men have fought before and while it was a competitive affair, it was Gaethje who was able to get his hand raised when all was said and done.

Gaethje gave his reaction to the new booking on social media.

Had to run it back 👏@Justin_Gaethje vs @RafaelFiziev is the new #UFC313 co-main event! pic.twitter.com/G0ZulhHRRg

— UFC (@ufc) February 27, 2025

Arman and Charles understandably said no. Max and Dustin understandably said no. Moicano got the call and said no. Props to Fiziev for volunteering to fly across the world and take this fight. Big risk here for me taking this rematch against and elite striker. Life’s a trip. Best…

— Justin Gaethje 🇺🇸 (@Justin_Gaethje) February 27, 2025

Gaethje responds to Fiziev rematch

“Arman and Charles understandably said no. Max and Dustin understandably said no. Moicano got the call and said no. Props to Fiziev for volunteering to fly across the world and take this fight. Big risk here for me taking this rematch against and elite striker. Life’s a trip. Best live show on earth going down March 8th #UFC313”

Justin was then asked about Arman not saying yes.

“That’s a big weight cut on short notice. To be fair it takes me 8- 12 weeks to properly get my body prepared for the weight cut. I fight around 175 like most lightweights. Hard to understand but that’s the way it goes.”