UFC lightweight, Rafael Fiziev, recently sat down for an interview with RT Sport. He said that a new era in the lightweight division of the UFC is upon us as Khabib Nurmagomedov announced his retirement from the sport. The Kyrgyz fighter also revealed how Nurmagomedov established his dominance over the division.

‘The Eagle’ is undoubtedly one of the most dominant fighters ever to have graced the UFC Octagon. Fiziev believes many of his opponents, in fact, quit mentally before even fighting the Dagestani. Nurmagomedov’s relentless pressure and his ability to maul his opponents on the ground play an important role in it.

“Yeah, Khabib smash everyone, everybody, and go and go rest. Now, this new era. Yeah, now we’ll see what happened. I don’t know we have. I think everyone good level here. Top Five, top five and like the Chandler like Oliveira, Poirier, Gaethje, Khabib,” said Fiziev.

“I think everyone has a good level but Khabib, and like everyone thinks like, I don’t know how to say no, he has strong grappling or strong control. And everyone when start wrestling with him and everyone, ‘Whoa, he smash me now’.

“Like, like you but then, ‘No’, I think some like many people broke inside before fight when they went into the fight. I think because everyone too much scared of Khabib,” added the striking wizard.

What’s next for Rafael Fiziev?

‘Ataman’ earned a sensational knockout finish over Renato Carneiro in his last fight at UFC 256. He is currently on a 3-fight winning streak in the 155 lbs division of the UFC. A loss to Magomed Mustafaev is the only stain in his otherwise perfect professional career so far.

He has certainly made his case to earn an even higher-ranked opponent in his next fight. Given how packed the lightweight division of the UFC currently is, one can expect him to have only tough fights ahead.

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