Preview: UFC Fight Night 228 ‘Fiziev vs. Gamrot’

The Ultimate Fighting Championship on Saturday heads back to the UFC Apex in Las Vegas before a rare one-week break, and the UFC Fight Night 228 main card looks to be a surprisingly solid offering. It features an interesting headliner, as Rafael Fiziev and Mateusz Gamrot try to break back into the lightweight elite, and two other bouts could easily carry other shows. Bryce Mitchell takes on Dan Ige in an excellent featherweight co-main event, and Marina Rodriguez faces Michelle Waterson-Gomez in a rematch of a 2021 headliner. Add in two intriguing prospect matchups, and this serves as solid capper to a long stretch of non-stop fight weeks.

Now to the UFC Fight Night “Fiziev vs. Gamrot” preview:

Lightweights

#6 LW | Rafael Fiziev (12-2, 6-2 UFC) vs. #7 LW | Mateusz Gamrot (22-2, 5-2 UFC)

ODDS: Fiziev (-155), Gamrot (+130)

Given the hype he had coming into the UFC in 2020, it has been nice to see Gamrot live up to the billing and carve out a niche as a fringe lightweight contender. A two-division champion for KSW in his native Poland, “Gamer” was expected to immediately hit the ground running towards title contention, which made his debut loss to Guram Kutateladze quite shocking. It turned out Gamrot needed all of one fight to adjust to being a three-round fighter once again, as 2021 was a breakout year. Gamrot knocked out Scott Holtzman, tapped out Jeremy Stephens and physically broke Diego Ferreira to head into 2022 as a lightweight to watch. That run made it apparent that Gamrot was starting to find his best success behind a relentless wrestling game, but it was still a surprise to see the level of persistence that he brought to a five-round main event against Arman Tsarukyan. Gamrot may not have deserved the decision victory, but he got it on the back of 25 minutes of non-stop wrestling against one of the strongest wrestlers the division has to offer. Gamrot’s run towards the title did finally hit a ceiling against Beneil Dariush, who had enough wrestling and grappling chops to stall him out over three rounds. However, the Pole picked up where he left off in his first fight of 2023, racking up takedowns to earn another decision win over Jalin Turner. Despite the wrestling-heavy attack, Gamrot’s sheer aggression makes for interesting fights, so he figures to be an entertaining dance partner for the always-violent Fiziev.

Like Gamrot, Fiziev suffered a disappointing loss right out of the gate in the UFC. Given his background as a decorated striker, it was a bit shocking to see “Ataman” get caught off-guard and knocked out by Magomed Mustafaev in just 86 seconds. It took a little over a year for Fiziev to regain his momentum, particularly after a 2020 win over Marc Diakiese. Both men were considered about the equal level of prospect, but Fiziev outclassed Diakiese on the feet while also answering some of the long-lingering questions about his takedown defense. From there, Fiziev became one of the hottest rising talents in the sport thanks to three straight impressive performances. He obliterated Renato Carneiro and Brad Riddell with some brutal knockouts, which sandwiched a violent three-round war against Bobby Green. That set up Fiziev for his first UFC main event in 2022 against Rafael dos Anjos, which was an impressive bit of business that also was not without its issues. Fiziev’s takedown defense held up even while dos Anjos succeeded in making long stretches of the fight a grind; and while Fiziev seemed to be tiring out by the championship rounds, he regrouped himself well enough to score a fifth-round knockout. Similarly, Fiziev’s narrow March loss to Justin Gaethje was a mixed bag. Fiziev had some impressive moments going toe-to-toe with one of the sport’s most violent competitors, but some concerns about the efficiency of his adaptive and reactive striking style manifested themselves as Gaethje took over the fight late. Fiziev’s takedown defense has held up quite well overall, but it will be interesting to see how much progress Gamrot can make on that front at a number of levels. It is unclear how well Fiziev can prepare for the sheer variety of wrestling attacks that Gamrot brings to the table, particularly his low single-leg takedowns; and even if Fiziev can successfully stay on the defensive early on, the Azerbaijani might tire out through sheer attrition. There is a solid chance that Fiziev can neutralize a few takedowns and then dominate—or even finish—this fight standing, but the bet is that Gamrot can survive early and leave him without any moments to catch his breath, banking at least the championship rounds and winning over the judges for at least one more. The pick is Gamrot via decision.

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Fiziev vs. Gamrot
Mitchell vs. Ige
Rodriguez vs. Waterson-Gomez
Battle vs. Fletcher
Jourdain vs. Ramos
The Prelims