The UFC returned to Baku, Azerbaijan for the organization’s second consecutive June event.
Rafael Fiziev, who represents Azerbaijan, was pitted against Mexico’s Manuel Torres in a five-round main event in the lightweight division.
The 13-bout card took place at the National Gymnastics Arena.
Four pivotal contests in the middleweight division were also featured on the card, including a co-main event between Russia’s Shara Magomedov and Brazil’s Michel Pereira.
Below are the official results from UFC Fight Night: Fiziev vs. Torres…
MAIN CARD
Rafael Fiziev def. Manuel Torres by KO at 0:15 of Round 2
Fiziev thrilled the home crowd with a highlight-reel second-round knockout victory to maintain his place in the top 15 of the lightweight division.
Shara Magomedov def. Michel Pereira by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Russia’s “Shara Bullet” escaped with a decision win after losing the opening round. Magomedov is 17-1 in MMA with two decision wins in a row. Pereira has now lost four of his past five fights. Magomedov was lucky to escape without being deducted a point after multiple fouls that received warnings from referee Herb Dean but no deductions that would've impacted the scorecards.
Matheus Camilo def. Nazim Sadykhov by TKO at 1:31 of Round 1
A perfectly timed right hand from Brazil’s Camillo silenced the crowd in the opening round as he knocked out Azerbaijan’s Sadykhov in a minute and a half.
Asu Almabayev def. Charles Johnson by submission (Suloev stretch) at 3:33 of Round 3
Kazakhstan’s Almabayev was coasting to a decision win but pulled off a high-level submission with a seldom-used technique to cap things off. He improved to 7-1 in the UFC as Johnson of the United States continued his trend of alternating wins and losses.
Ikram Aliskerov def. Brunno Ferreira by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
These powerful middleweights needed all 15 minutes with Dagestan, Russia’s Aliskerov sweeping the scorecards against Brazil’s Ferriera. Aliskerov has won three in a row and Ferreira has lost his past two.
Abus Magomedov def. Michal Oleksiejczuk by submission (guillotine choke) at 3:25 of Round 1
Germany’s Magomedov bounced back from a submission loss to Joe Pyfer with a submission win of his own. After having success with his hands in Baku, Magomedov locked in a choke that forced a tap from Poland’s Oleksiejczuk who had a three-fight win streak snapped. Oleksiejczuk is now 10-8 in the UFC with six of those losses being via submission. Magomedov said after the win he wants to face former longtime champion Israel Adesanya next.
PRELIMINARY CARD
Farman Hasanov def. Eric Nolan by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Azerbaijan’s Hasanov overcame fatigue and stayed perfect in MMA, moving to 6-0 with a win in his UFC debut. He used wrestling to control America’s Nolan for the majority of the 15-minute bout.
Abdul-Rakhman Yakhyaev def. Julius Walker by KO at 0:08 of Round 1
Turkiye’s Yakhyaev, 25, nearly set a new UFC record with an instant knockout of America’s Walker. Yakhyaev dropped Walker with the first punch he threw about four or five seconds into the fight and landed a few more before the referee to step in to officially end the bout.
It marked the second-fastest KO win in light-heavyweight history behind only Ryan Jimmo’s seven-second KO of Anthony Perosh at UFC 149. It tied Houston Alexander's UFC 71 eight-second KO win over Keith Jardine. The win improved Yakhyaev’s pro MMA record to 10-0 and is tied for the seventh-fastest KO in UFC history regardless of weight class.
Nursulton Ruziboev def. Andrey Pulyaev by technical submission (rear-naked choke) at 3:15 of Round 1
Uzbekistan’s Ruziboev used his crushing grip strength to choke Russia’s Pulyaev unconscious after getting the fight to the mat early. Ruziboev, 32, is 5-1 in the UFC but 5-0 when competing in the middleweight division.
Kaan Ofli def. Javier Reyes by submission (arm-triangle choke) at 4:16 of Round 1
Australia’s Ofli won his third consecutive fight, tapping out Colombia’s Reyes shortly after rocking him with a right hand.
Daniil Donchenko def. Theodor Berggren by TKO at 1:35 of Round 2
Ukraine’s Donchenko kept his hot streak intact and won his third straight UFC bout with a finish of Sweden’s Berggren who had replaced his countryman Andreas Gustafsson on short notice for this one. Donchenko, the welterweight winner of The Ultimate Fighter 33, used a perfectly-timed head kick to set up the finish.
Jean Matsumoto def. Bekzat Almakhan by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Brazil’s Matsumoto overcame a first-round knockdown to improve to 4-2 in the UFC as Kazakhstan’s Almakhan fell to 1-3 in the UFC with all three losses via UD.
Tahir Abdullayev def. Jefferson Nascimento by TKO at 4:28 of Round 3
These UFC newcomers kicked off the prelims with Nascimento frustrating Abdullayev with movement for two rounds before Abdullayev found success on the ground in Round 3. The fight was stopped in the final minute thanks to a questionable call from the referee.
“That’s a really bad stoppage,” former UFC champion Michael Bisping said on the broadcast, since Nascimento was intelligently defending himself at the time the bout was halted.
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