Manuel Torres hadn’t gone outside of the first round in nearly eight years, but he ventured into that mythical (for him) frame Saturday.
Rafael Fiziev made him pay the price just 15 seconds into the round with a perfectly placed spinning back kick that caught Torres on the chin with his heel, and the stoppage came with his hands seconds later.
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An emotional Fiziev had dropped four of his five previous fights, including a bad knockout loss to Mauricio Ruffy in January. He called for a shot at the BMF belt, which currently is held by Charles Oliveira. Torres had a two-fight streak of bonus-winning first-round stoppages snapped.
Fiziev’s win came in the main event of his return home in Azerbaijan, and brought the house down, proverbially speaking, for the fans at the National Gymnastics Center in Baku.
Fiziev came out fast and backed Torres up. But Torres reset and tried to use his length advantage to change the early trajectory. He did and backed Fiziev up, but then came in tight and looked for a takedown. Fiziev was wise to it, though, and dragged Torres to the canvas along the fence.
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Torres got back up fairly easily, but then landed a knee too low. Fiziev didn’t need much time to recover, but after they did found himself with his legs taken out from a Torres low kick. Midway through the opening frame, the fight was proving to be as much of a coin flip as the betting lines had it.
Fiziev attacked Torres’ leg with low kicks with a minute left and had to eat a punch for it. But when Torres kicked a few seconds later, Fiziev caught it perfectly and used it to sweep Torres to the mat. With 30 seconds left, Torres popped back up with plenty of energy and he came out swinging down the stretch.
But for the first time in nearly eight years, Torres had to go to a second round. And while that might not have had anything to do with what came next, the timing is hard to ignore. Just seconds into the second round, Fiziev landed a spinning back click flush to Torres’ chin. He hit the canvas and Fiziev pounced on him.
Fiziev kept the pressure on, and though Torres got back to his feet, it was only to take even worse damage with punches that were on the button until Torres was out on the canvas when Marc Goddard stopped it just 15 seconds into the round.
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Up-to-the-minute UFC Fight Night 280 results:
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Rafael Fiziev def. Manuel Torres via knockout (spinning back kick, punches) – Round 2, 0:15
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Rafael Fiziev makes Manuel Torres pay for going to Round 2 at UFC Baku
