Peace Out, Homie

The tough lightweight contender will be out for almost a year after destroying his ACL in a fight against Mateusz Gamrot.

Rafael Fiziev has confirmed that he suffered an ACL injury during his main event fight at UFC Vegas 79 against Mateusz Gamrot.

Fiziev and Gamrot were just getting going in the second round of their five round lightweight bout when Fiziev injured his left leg while throwing a right kick. Freak accident? Or did it have something to do with Gamrot landing some hard kicks leading up to the injury? Either way, it was ruled a TKO win for “Gamer” and now “Ataman” is confirming our worst suspicions about the knee.

At least he has a sense of humor about it.

The 30-year-old Azerbaijani fighter took to Instagram to share an update and captioned his video “My ACL said Salam Alaykum and ran off!” Salam Alaykum means “peace be upon you” and is used as a greeting and for departures.

“Just want to say thank you to all my supporters,” a crutch-bound Fiziev said. “I see it, I feel it, in all the messages and comments. Thank you my brothers. Thank you for support, and I will be back.”

“I’m just sad because I had a very great camp, and I’m ready to show my best skills,” he continued. “And I’m sad because it happened only in the second round. I can get ready for loss like that, but I’m more than happy, one hundred times more happy if it happens in the fifth round, because I’m sure and I believe I can show in this fight very nice skills.”

“But whatever plans, God has different plans, and these plans are always the best. Thank you everybody, again.”

Fiziev came into the UFC in 2019 and racked up a 6-1 record with the promotion before his current two-fight losing streak. Justin Gaethje defeated him via majority decision at UFC 286 and now he has this loss to Mateusz Gamrot to motivate him while in recovery.

The anterior cruciate ligament is a small band of tissue that holds the knee together. Depending on whether Fiziev suffered a full or partial tear of his ACL, he could be out eight months to a year recovering.