Fiziev rejects label as product of Kyrgyz MMA, calls himself self-made

Rafael Fiziev has pushed back on being described as a product of the Kyrgyz martial arts school, stating he considers himself self-made and citing a difficult relationship with the country. He also argued that Valentina Shevchenko, who trained in Kyrgyzstan for only five or six years before moving on, should not be considered a product of that system either. Fiziev praised rising Kyrgyz fighters Razhabali and Orolbai as genuine phenomena, comparing their innate gifts to those of fighters like Islam Makhachev, Khabib, and Jon Jones.