“He has striking. He has dangerous grappling. And he’s a tall guy. I am like a Hobbit compared to him. I might need to jump to punch him. But it’s a great challenge, and I am ready for it. It won’t be an easy fight but there’s no pressure. This situation just gives me more energy.”

Asia knows Fiziev. The Kyrgyzstan-born fighter works as a coach at the Tiger Muay Thai talent factory in Phuket, sharing his kick-boxing skills (and others) with the fighters who use the gym as a base, and that brings him in regular contact with the likes of the UFC’s Russian bantamweight title-holder Petr Yan (15-1), and its Kyrgyzstan flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko (20-3).

Fiziev also carved his way through the region’s kick-boxing and Muay Thai leagues as a fighter himself before turning his attention to MMA five years ago, and he has since then gathered a legion of fans for his explosive and relentless stand-up style.

But to the world at large Fiziev is so far mostly known for the one specific move.

It was The Matrix that set social media alight during Fiziev’s breakthrough win in the UFC over Congolese fighter Marc Diakiese (14-4) at UFC Fight Night: Figueiredo vs Benavidez 2 on Fight Island in Abu Dhabi in July.

It’s been part of the Fiziev repertoire for a while now but to see it in full swing during a UFC broadcast was something special, as Fiziev arched back to almost the horizontal as he dodged a Diakiese kick, a la Neo (Keanu Reeves) from the Wachowskis’ blockbuster film.

“People love something crazy in a fight,” he says. “We have basic stuff, basic punches, basic kicks. But people like it more if you do something crazy. The Matrix isn’t bad for your opponent. You can’t hurt him with it or anything. So it’s just for fun, it’s just for the people, and maybe it might distract my opponent.”

The win over Diakiese – via unanimous decision in what was deemed Fight of the Night – showed Fiziev at his best, constantly moving and landing thunderous kicks that echoed out through the empty arena.

Hence the UFC has thrust him up on Saturday’s main card, just two fights before the flyweight title headliner between Brazilian champion Deiveson Figueiredo (20-1) and the Mexican challenger Brandon Moreno (18-5-1).

“It’s like an electric shock when I saw that,” says Fiziev of his position on the card. “It thought ‘wow’. It’s so early in my career but it has pushed me even more.”

The win over Diakiese took Fiziev’s record in the UFC to 2-1, and helped to wipe from his memory a debut loss, via first-round TKO, to Russian Magomed Mustafaev (14-3). Well, pretty much.

“I’d never in my life lost like that,” Fiziev explains. “I’ve been fighting since I was 10 years old, maybe 250 to 300 amateur fights and then professional. Of course I had lost but I had never been beaten. They were close fights. This wasn’t.

“For maybe two months, I didn’t really talk. For two months, I didn’t smile. I couldn’t look in the eyes of my coach, my wife, my parents. It’s a big drama show whenever I lose but this time it was two crazy months. I had to wrestle with it inside, with no one else helping. But I have beaten it, and now I am ready again.”

The Covid-19 pandemic has messed with Fiziev’s year. Saturday’s bout has been delayed once owing to his opponent testing positive, and there have been lean times down in Thailand with the normal stream of fighters using Tiger Muay Thai slowing to barely a trickle. The positive, though, is that Fiziev has been able to focus more on himself, rather than others, and he believes the benefits of all that extra work will be there for the world to see on Saturday.

“I’m striker and I like stand-up. I think everyone knows this,” says Fiziev. “So I will try to fight with the hands and the kicks. My focus in the UFC is to take the bonus. This guy, he loves a war and I love a war. So we’ll see.”