The octagon hits Azerbaijan for the second time in its history Saturday with UFC Fight Night 280 at Crystal Hall in Baku (Paramount+).
A lightweight main event featuring local hero Rafael Fiziev (13-5 MMA, 7-5 UFC) takes center stage. He takes on Manuel Torres (17-3 MMA, 5-1 UFC), who seeks a breakthrough win into the upper tier of the weight class now ruled by Justin Gaethje.
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For more on the numbers, check below for MMA Junkie’s UFC Fight Night 280 pre-event facts.
Rafael Fiziev vs. Manuel Torres
Fiziev is one of 15 fighters in UFC history to earn a knockout stemming from a wheel kick. He accomplished the feat at UFC on ESPN 31. There’s been 16 such finishes overall in company history.
Fiziev defends 90.4 percent of opponent takedown attempts in UFC lightweight competition, the best rate among active fighters in the weight class.
Torres has earned 16 of his 17 career victories by stoppage. That includes all five of his UFC victories.
Torres’ average fight time of 2:33 in UFC lightweight competition is the second-shortest in divisional history behind Terrance McKinney (2:16).
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Shara Magomedov vs. Michel Pereira
Shara Magomedov (16-1 MMA, 5-1 UFC) is one of 12 fighters in UFC history to earn a knockout stemming from a spinning backfist. He accomplished the feat at UFC 308.
Magomedov lands 63 percent of his significant strike attempts in UFC middleweight competition, the highest rate in divisional history.
Michel Pereira (31-14 MMA, 10-5 UFC) is 4-3 since he moved up to the middleweight division in October 2023.
Asu Almabayev vs. Charles Johnson
Asu Almabayev’s (23-3 MMA, 6-1 UFC) six victories since 2023 in UFC flyweight competition are tied for second-most in the division behind Joshua Van (10) and Charles Johnson (seven.
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Ikram Aliskerov vs. Brunno Ferreira
Ikram Aliskerov’s (17-2 MMA, 4-1 UFC) average fight time of 5:12 in UFC middleweight competition is the shortest among active fighters in the weight class.
Aliskerov lands 7.15 significant strikes per minute in UFC middleweight competition, the best rate in divisional history.
Brunno Ferreira (15-3 MMA, 6-3 UFC) is one of 10 fighters in UFC history to earn a knockout stemming from a spinning back elbow. He accomplished the feat at UFC on ESPN 57.
Abus Magomedov vs. Michal Oleksiejczuk
Michal Oleksiejczuk (22-9 MMA, 10-7 UFC) is 6-4 since he dropped to the UFC middleweight division in August 2022.
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Oleksiejczuk’s eight first-round knockout victories in UFC competition are third-most in company history behind Vitor Belfort (11) and Anthony Johnson (nine).
Oleksiejczuk lands 7.07 significant strikes per minute in UFC middleweight competition, the second-best rate in divisional history behind Aliskerov (7.15).
Abdul Rakhman Yakhyaev vs. Julius Walker
Julius Walker (7-2 MMA, 1-2 UFC) is 1-2 in his past three fights after starting his career 6-0.
Nursulton Ruziboev vs. Andrey Pulyaev
Nursulton Ruziboev’s (36-9-2 MMA, 4-1 UFC) four-fight UFC winning streak in middleweight competition is tied for the second-longest active streak in the division behind Nassourdine Imavov (five) and Ateba Gautier (five).
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Daniil Donchenko vs. Theodor Berggren
Daniil Donchenko (12-2 MMA, 1-0 UFC) is the Season 33 welterweight winner of “The Ultimate Fighter” reality series.
Bekzat Almakhan vs. Jean Matsumoto
Jean Matsumoto (17-2 MMA, 3-2 UFC) is 1-2 in his past three fights after starting his career 16-0.
UFC research analyst and live statistics producer Michael Carroll contributed to this story. Follow him on X @MJCflipdascript.
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: UFC Baku pre-event facts: Striking standouts fill card
