For the past two years, Gadzhi
Rabadanov has been a staple in the
Professional Fighters League’s lightweight division, competing
in back-to-back tournaments, winning in the 2024 PFL Season.
Although he came up short last year, losing in the championship to
Alfie
Davis, Rabadanov is ready to move forward and get back to being
the best version of himself under the new format with sans
tournament and new division rankings.
Rabadanov returns to action May 2 at
PFL Sioux Falls in a co-main event showdown against former PFL
Europe champion Aleksandr
Chizov, a big time matchup for both parties. Speaking to
Sherdog.com ahead of his fight, Rabadanov expressed his excitement
for the change in format, as well as his approach for his path back
into the title picture.
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“I’m excited; after I had surgery, I rested, recovered and now I’m
very healthy,” Rabadanov said. I’m very excited to be back in the
cage again. I think the time off since my last fight has helped me.
In the last two years, it was so hard. A lot of fighting, a lot of
weight cutting, and now eight months after surgery, I’m back and
it’s helped me. I feel good, I feel rested and I’m ready. I’m
hungry like I was before.”
After winning the 2024 PFL lightweight tournament, Rabadanov
surprised some by entering the tournament this past year, but he
was determined to keep showcasing his greatness. Now that the
tournaments are a thing of the past, Rabadanov is grateful for the
experience, but happy to be able to move at his own pace moving
forward.
“It was a good experience for me, but it was so hard. If the PFL
did this again, I would not come back to the tournament again. The
last two years, I had to kill myself to stay active, I was killing
my body, it was so hard. I want to say thank you to the PFL,
because I got to stay very busy over the last two years. I got to
make plenty of money and I got plenty of experience. This was a big
experience for me and the success I had as well. I stay thankful to
the PFL and their entire team.”
When discussing his upcoming opponent, Rabadanov said he did his
homework on Chizov, respecting what he’s done on the PFL Europe
circuit, expecting a great fight between them.
“Chizov is a very good opponent, he’s a good fighter. He has good
boxing, good striking and he became the PFL Europe champion. He’s
tough. I watched his fights; he’s a very good opponent for me but I
think I’m much more of a universal fighter than him. My striking
skill is much better, my power, my hands — I think are better than
his.”
Not looking past his upcoming opponent, Rabadanov did say he’d be
open to a rematch with Davis, who he lost to in the finals last
year.
“First off, this is all about Alex Chizov. I never look past my
opponent, but if I win, yes, I want this guy. A fight with Alfie
Davis will be my next goal. I want to break this guy. The last
fight was a bit of a mistake on my end, no excuse, but that was not
my style. If the PFL wants to give me the rematch, I will be
happy.”
First off will be the matchup against Chizov and while Rabadanov is
near the top of the rankings, he’s patiently going to take down
competition while his friend, Timur
Khizriev, is the champion.
“Right now, we have a champion, so no, I’m not looking for a title
fight right now. I don’t know what’s going to happen in the future
and I don’t want to think about a fight against the champion. We
know we will never fight against (Khizriev.) We never fight each
other. This is my younger brother. Of course I want to become a
champion — not now — I don’t even want to think about this.”
When asked to respond to his opponent saying that his message to
the fans is “don’t blink,” Rabadanov echoed those same exact
words.
“Wow, I like that, those are my words. This is my style. Don’t
blink, please. I like this a lot, don’t blink.”