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Rafael Fiziev has a theory on why Conor McGregor often swings from respectful gentleman to trash talking maniac on Twitter.
Fiziev is set to face Rafael dos Anjos in the main event of this weekend's UFC on ESPN show. Whenever Fiziev is about to fight, highlights of him dodging head kicks with a Matrix-style back lean show up on Twitter. One of those was seen by Conor McGregor, who suggested an axe kick would catch Fiziev.
The two had a tense but respectful back and forth on Wednesday afternoon on kicking strategy. However, later that night McGregor returned to Twitter and called Fiziev a "bend back nobody b***h."
Rafael Fiziev was asked about the interaction during media interviews for his UFC on ESPN main event and said:
"Yeah I saw it, I see. You know, he start with respect. He say 'Respect.' But you know, I'm sure I'm respect with everybody. And also I respect Conor, he make a big work for this business, and nobody make this like he do. But after the first slip at night, he drink first, and after maybe he smoke, and after maybe he *sniff*, and after maybe he have one little big Proper 12, and then again, and now 'Urgh,' he take a phone and start talking s***."
Watch Rafael Fiziev discuss Conor McGregor's Twitter habits below:
While there's no evidence that Conor McGregor is doing illegal drugs, there certainly is a marked difference in the tweets 'The Notorious' makes during different times of the day. Look at this tweet sent at 2:30PM Irish Standard Time:
"Thank you for the offer. When I am in Thailand I will head here for sure! Don’t disrespect you are yet to do anything significant in this sport. Good luck in your upcoming fight."
Now check out this tweet sent roughly eight hours later at 11PM:
"No bother pal, sound. Think of me as tiger woods with a 12 iron and your nose as the golf ball. And think of me sprinting for it with a running switch kick and fuck your little bend back. You little bend back nobody bitch. Oh you bend over, wow, that’s awesome. Congrats pal haha"
Whatever the cause, the interaction has only helped promote Rafael Fiziev's upcoming fight against Rafael dos Anjos. Fiziev is currently ranked No. 10 at lightweight, and takes on No. 7 ranked Rafael dos Anjos. The two men are some of the toughest fighters at 155, so their main event is almost guaranteed to be an all out war.
Watch Rafael Fiziev go full Matrix against Marc Diakiese
Rafael Fiziev is an accomplished Muay Thai fighter that lives in Thailand and serves as Tiger Muay Thai's kickboxing coach. That's led him to be quite adept at using the lean back dodge to avoid head kicks.
There's often a big difference between what a fighter can do outside the UFC and what still works inside the UFC against top level opponents. However, Fiziev proved early into his UFC career that he could still pull off his Matrix dip. Watch him do it against Marc Diakiese in July 2020:
