UFC Vegas 44’s Rafael Fiziev: “This cage is like my kitchen. I come cooking something nice.”

Las Vegas, NV – UFC lightweight Rafael Fiziev wants to make sure everyone knows how comfortable he is in the cage— so much so it’s like he’s made himself at home.

“Bro, I’m staying at home in this cage. It’s like my home. It’s like my kitchen. This cage is like my kitchen, I come cooking something nice,” Fiziev said at UFC Vegas 44 Media Day on Wednesday.

Fiziev (10-1) takes on Brad Riddell (10-1) who is his former training partner for years ago although neither fighter gives those sessions much weight in terms of this fight due to how long ago that was.

“It’s so long time ago. I think….I don’t think, I’m sure, we’re totally different fighters from three years ago. Everyone says ‘Oh you sparred together, maybe you know what he do, he know what you do.’ No, in sparring we’re not real,” Fiziev said making the point that in sparring they’re not fighting for real only training.

Still they are friends so the two had a chat about the bout before signing to make it official.

“Yeah when we talked it was him he called me. And we said yes together. This guy I like him, we’re like friends, we trained together but how we fight? Like why not? I help him to make money now, he help for me. We’re like friends still. Just we go to the cage, we make money, we make business. Because sometimes we can’t say no in this business. After cage, after fight, we’re again friends.”

Fiziev expects a fun but hard fought battle on Saturday night vs his friend.

“That’s why I like this fight. Because everyone wants this and it’s an interesting fight.”

Fiziev and Riddell will be the co-main event on Saturday night at UFC Vegas 44 from the UFC APEX in Las Vegas.

Watch the full UFC Vegas 44 media day appearance from Rafael Fiziev above. The event takes place this Saturday, December 4, 2021 at the Apex in Las Vegas. More coverage from Wednesday’s media day can be found below.