Rafael Fiziev is back! The fighter from Azerbaijan won in front of his home crowd during UFC Baku in spectacular fashion in the second round against Manuel Torres. Fiziev put Torres down with a head kick and finished him by ground and pound.
Going into the fight, Fiziev had only won one of his last five fights. That win came against Ignacio Bahamondes last year in Baku. His opponent, Torres, won all but one of his fights in the UFC. His only loss came against Bahamondes.
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A Game-Changing Kick
Fiziev immediately pushed the pace early on. Torres countered but got taken down by the Azerbaijani. The Mexican fighter was able to get up pretty quickly. Fiziev kept trying to land kicks to the body and legs of Torres. Torres tried to close in but had difficulties finding his rhythm because Fiziev kept circling.
Fiziev took down Torres again at the end of the round, but not much happened. Torres ended with a hard punch to the head of Fiziev. In the second round, Fiziev opened with a massive spinning hook kick. Fiziev hit the glove, but the impact was hard, and Torres got down. Fiziev jumped on the Mexican fighter and finished him via TKO. An amazing finish for the Azerbaijani in front of his home crowd.
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Overcoming Adversity
In the co-main event of the evening, Shara Magomedov took home a unanimous decision victory over Michel Pereira. Magomedov struggled early on in the fight, getting knocked down by a hard punch from Pereira.
Unfortunately for the Brazilian fighter, he gassed out and couldn’t maintain his first-round pace. Magomedov won the second and third rounds purely by being the more active fighter. It was a solid win for the Russian, though without a highlight-reel finish this time.
The Fourth Time In History
Asu Almbayev is the fourth fighter in the promotion’s history to win a fight by Suloev stretch. The fighter from Kazakhstan was in control during the fight against Charles Johnson. Almbayev was too strong in the grapple department for the American fighter.
Johnson locked up a reverse triangle choke at the beginning of round 3, but wasn’t able to finish the move. Almabayev retook control and finished Johnson with a Suloev stretch. He is after Kenny Robertson, Aljamain Sterling, and Zabit Magomedsharipov, the fourth fighter to ever win in the UFC by that technique.
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Beating The Odds Again
For the third time in a row, Kaan Ofli came into the fight as an underdog. The Australian fighter with Turkish roots came into the fight against Javier Reyes with a seven-inch reach disadvantage. It didn’t matter at all. Ofli was able to push the pace and close the distance, and knocked down Reyes with a vicious right to the chin.
Ofli tried to finish the fight with ground-and-pound, but Reyes kept moving. Ofli went for the arm-triangle choke and got it after Reyes tapped out. The third win for Ofli in the UFC and his second finish in the promotion overall.
Full Results UFC Baku
Main Card
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Rafael Fiziev def. Manuel Torres via TKO (head kick & punches) – R2, 0:15.
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Shara Magomedov def. Michel Pereira via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28).
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Matheus Camilo def. Nazim Sadykhov via TKO (punch) – R1, 1:31.
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Asu Almabayev def. Charles Johnson via submission (Suloev stretch) – R3, 3:33.
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Ikram Aliskerov def. Brunno Ferreira via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27).
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Abus Magomedov def. Michal Oleksiejczuk via submission (guillotine choke) – R1, 3:25.
Preliminary Card
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Farman Hasanov def. Eric Nolan via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27).
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Abdul-Rakhman Yakhyaev def. Julius Walker via TKO (punch) – R1, 0:08.
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Nursulton Ruziboev def. Andrey Pulyaev via tech.submission (rear-naked choke) – R1, 3:58.
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Kaan Ofli def. Javier Reyes via submission (arm-triangle choke) – R1, 4:16.
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Daniil Donchenko def. Theodor Berggren via TKO (head-kick & punches) – R2, 1:35.
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Jean Matsumoto def. Bekzat Almakhan via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28).
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Tahir Abdullayev def. Jefferson Nascimento via TKO (punches) – R3, 4:28.
Full bonuses were also announced after the fights. (later)
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