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Rafael Fiziev revealed that a knee injury forced him out of UFC Rio. | Getty/UFC
Knee issues continue to plague Rafael Fiziev.
The lightweight contender released a statement via Instagram Stories addressing the injury that forced him to pull out of the UFC Rio headliner against Charles Oliveira.
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“Many people asking what happened with me, why I’m out from the fight,” Fiziev said (translation via Red Corner MMA). “I injured my knee again. Alhamdulillah, no need to do surgery, but I cannot push 100 percent. I cannot work. Cannot wrestle, cannot spar. I have to heal up right now. A couple of months, I come back to the fight. I wish to fight in Brazil, this is my dream fight, but I already have a couple of surgeries in my knee and it’s a big risk to go in with my injured knee right now to fight.
“It’s a big risk to have a third injury on the same knee. That’s not good. I have to heal up, guys.”
Fiziev First Injured Knee Two Years Ago
The 32-year-old Kazakhstan native tore his ACL against Mateusz Gamrot at UFC Fight Night 228 on Sept. 23, 2023. Fiziev was sidelined for 18 months due to that knee injury. “Ataman” snapped a three-fight skid in his last outing, when he outpointed Ignacio Bahamondes at UFC on ABC 8.
After Fiziev’s exit, the promotion was able to salvage the UFC Rio main event by booking Gamrot against Oliveira for the Oct. 11 card.
🇧🇷 Rafael Fiziev opens up on knee injury and missing his dream fight in Brazil 🦵
“Many people are asking me what happened and why I’m out of the fight. I injured my knee again, but Alhamdulillah, there’s no need for surgery. However, I cannot push 100%, I cannot work, cannot… pic.twitter.com/TiSmRuhaYz
— Red Corner MMA (@RedCorner_MMA) September 24, 2025
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
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