Rafael Fiziev rejects label of Kyrgyz fighting school product

Rafael Fiziev has stated that he does not consider himself a product of the Kyrgyz martial arts school, saying he is self-made. He also argued that Valentina Shevchenko should not be considered a product of that system, crediting her development to coach Pavel Fedotov and her own global training journey. Fiziev praised fighters such as Razhababali and Orolbay as genuine phenomena while noting that Kyrgyzstan has a strong emerging generation of athletes.