OVER THE TOP

A grand UFC Fight Night took place on June 27 at the National Gymnastics Arena in Baku. In the main event, Azerbaijani fighter Rafael Fiziyev secured an impressive victory over Mexican Manuel Torres, knocking him out in the second round. Let us examine the bouts of this historic event, in which 9 of the 13 fights ended prematurely.

Rafael Fiziyev vs Manuel Torres (lightweight)

Before the fight, experts described this matchup as a clash between the two most dangerous strikers in the lightweight division. The first round was tense and dramatic. Fiziyev started in an aggressive manner, landing heavy low kicks with great regularity. However, Torres found his rhythm and began to break through Fiziyev's defence with powerful right-hand strikes, landing a precise straight punch in the final seconds to earn him the round 10-9.

After the fight, Fiziyev admitted that after absorbing one of Torres's shots, he experienced double vision in his left eye. He said he relied almost entirely on his right eye to gauge distance accurately.

Fiziyev launched an attack at the start of the second round. He stunned his opponent with a spectacular spinning kick to Torres's chin at 15 seconds. The Mexican fell to the octagon floor, and Fiziyev unleashed a barrage of strikes. The fight was stopped by the referee, Mark Goddard.

This victory ended Fiziyev's losing streak. After the bout, he made it clear that he wants to face Charles Oliveira for the BMF ("Baddest Motherfucker") title.

At the post-fight press conference, Fiziyev confirmed that he had poor vision in his left eye after the first round. "After the opponent's strike, everything blurred. In the second round, I nailed a spinning kick—and it worked."

Shara Magomedov vs Michel Pereira (middleweight)

The evening’s co-main event unfolded very differently. The first round went to Brazilian Pereira, who sent Russian Shara “Bullet” Magomedov to a knockdown with a powerful straight right and then confidently controlled the fight on the ground, delivering heavy strikes. The judges unanimously awarded the round 10-9 to Pereira.

In the second round, the momentum shifted. Magomedov began attacking actively from various angles, landing heavy blows and forcing Pereira increasingly onto the defensive. Pereira attempted counter-attacks but gradually lost control of the fight.

In the third round both fighters showed signs of fatigue, but Magomedov maintained a higher pace. He successfully neutralised Pereira’s attempts to turn the tide and finished strongly with significant knee strikes in clinch exchanges.

All three judges scored the fight identically—29-28 in favour of Shara Magomedov.

Mateus Camilo vs Nazim Sadykhov

The biggest disappointment for Azerbaijani fans was Nazim Sadykhov’s defeat. Backed by incredible crowd support, Sadykhov started confidently but unexpectedly took a powerful and precise straight right from Mateus Camilo. Down on the mat, Sadykhov tried to defend himself but Camilo unleashed such a relentless series of heavy strikes that the referee stopped the fight.

This marked Sadykhov’s second consecutive knock-out loss.

Asu Almayev vs Charles Johnson

Kazakh fighter Asu Almayev delivered an almost textbook performance. Throughout the fight he outmatched American Johnson both in speed and wrestling technique. At 3 minutes 33 seconds into the third round, Almayev executed a rare submission hold for mixed martial arts, forcing Johnson to tap out.

Thanks to this victory, Almayev entered the top ten rankings in his division.

Ikram Aliskerov vs Bruno Ferreira

Russian Ikram Aliskerov controlled the fight completely both standing and on the ground. After three dominant rounds, he secured his third consecutive UFC win by unanimous decision.

Abus Magomedov vs Michal Oleksiejczuk

This middleweight bout was one of the quickest of the night. In the middle of the first round, German Abusupyan Magomedov stunned his Polish opponent with a powerful strike, took him down and immediately applied a chokehold that forced Oleksiejczuk to submit.

Abdul-Rahman Yahyayev vs Julius Walker

Young light heavyweight Abdul-Rahman Yahyayev (Türkiye) delivered one of the most spectacular knock-outs of the tournament. Just four seconds after the fight started, he sent American Walker to the canvas with a precise strike; four seconds later a ground-and-pound barrage prompted the referee to stop the contest.

The official time was eight seconds—making this knock-out the seventh fastest in UFC history.

Tahir Abdullayev vs Jefferson Nascimento

Azerbaijani fighter Tahir Abdullayev showed real fighting spirit. In a tough battle against the Brazilian, it was the third round that proved decisive. Taking control, Abdullayev knocked out his opponent 32 seconds before the final bell, sparking wild cheers from the crowd.

Farman Hasanov vs Eric Nolan

Another Azerbaijani representative, Farman Hasanov, dominated thanks to his superior wrestling skills. He repeatedly took American Nolan to the mat and confidently won by unanimous decision—30-27 across all three judges’ scorecards.

Bonuses and UFC conclusions

The UFC management highly praised the tournament’s spectacle and generously rewarded fighters.

The $100,000 “Performance of the Night” bonus went to Rafael Fiziyev, Asu Almayev, Abdul-Rahman Yahyayev and Daniil Donchenko. Fighters who finished their bouts early—Mateus Camilo, Abus Magomedov, Nursulton Ruziboev, Kaan Ofli and Tahir Abdullayev—each received $25,000 bonuses.

Thanks to his hard-fought win, Rafael Fiziyev retained his place in the lightweight top ten and re-entered contention for a championship title shot.

Asu Almayev strengthened his standing in the flyweight rankings, edging closer to the elite contenders in his category.

Full crowds at the National Gymnastics Arena, an incredible atmosphere created by Azerbaijani fans and high-level organisation of this fight night suggest that UFC is likely to hold even larger events in this region in future.

The UFC Fight Night tournament in Baku delivered thrilling victories and nine early finishes, easily securing its place among the most dynamic and memorable events in UFC history.