UFC’s second trip to Baku, Azerbaijan once against featured fan favourite Rafael Fiziev, this time in a main event slot. “Ataman” was facing Manuel Torres, who was coming off back-to-back KO wins. It also gave us a slew of impressive finishes from Abus Magomedov, Abdul-Rahman Yakhyaev and Nursulton Ruziboev, but none more eye-popping than Asu Almabayev’s suloev stretch. With UFC Baku in the books, let’s look at what’s next for the winners.
Rafael Fiziev
A rough patch would be an understatement for how it’s gone lately for Rafael Fiziev. He came into the UFC Baku main event 1-4 in his last 5. While the losses to Justin Gaethje have aged fine and the loss to Mateusz Gamrot is barely considered a loss at all, there were doubts about “Ataman” coming into this fight due to how much of a psychological toll tasting victory just once in the last 3 years would take. The win against Ignacio Bahamondes was nice, but the following loss to Mauricio Ruffy seemingly had fans ready to put a nail in Fiziev’s coffin.
A highlight reel KO against a dangerous youngster like Manuel Torres was exactly what he needed to rejuvenate the fan excitement. He called for a BMF title fight, and while I don’t blame him for shooting his shot, I think a fight with Dan Hooker would be a perfect preamble, with the winner getting to fight the aforementioned BMF belt. After getting beat up on the ground against Arman Tsarukyan and Benoit Saint Denis, Hooker needs an opponent who will accept his stand-and-bang terms. Fiziev also needs another win before calling out the top5 of the division. This matchup almost books itself.
Fiziev’s next fight: Dan Hooker
Shara Magomedov
Yes, Shara Bullet did get his hand raised on Saturday, but there’s an argument to be made that this fight hurt Shara’s stock more than anything. From the lack of action to the multiple fouls and the overall closeness of the result against someone who’s proven to be very beatable, this wasn’t the best look for the Russian. For a few fights now, I think there’s been a recalibration of the expectations for what “Bullet” can become. With a convincing win, I was going to book Shara against Edmen Shahbazyan as I thought that would be a good step in competition. Seeing how this fight played out, I would still favour a slow progression and go with someone like Brunno Ferreira, who will bring the fight to Shara and make it fun.
Magomedov’s next fight: Brunno Ferreira
Matheus Camilo
After getting upset in his debut against journeyman Gabe Green, Matheus Camilo has now won his next two fights since coming down to his natural weight class. Pulling off the upset KO against the more known Nazim Sadykhov in enemy territory should force us the reconsider the expectations for what Camilo could be. I think a fight with another fighter who debuted at welterweight, but has done well since coming down to lightweight in Evan Elder makes sense for both fighters.
Camilo’s next fight: Evan Elder
Asu Almabayev
With this win, Asu Almabayev earned himself a second consecutive win via finish against a ranked flyweight. He now moves to 7-1 in the promotion, with the sole loss coming against the current number one contender Manel Kape. This latest win coming via an extremely rare suloev stretch, the Kazakh clearly deserves a big fight. It’s a good thing for him that there are a lot of options at his disposal. Kyoji Huriguchi and the winner of the Royval/Kavanagh fight would both be great options, but I prefer the Tatsuro Taira fight.
Almabayev’s next fight: Tatsuro Taira
Ikram Aliskerov
Ikram Aliskerov came into the UFC with a fair bit of hype for being Khamzat Chimaev’s biggest pre-UFC test. Then came the Robert Whittaker loss, which was quite devastating, but also served as a reminder of who “The Reaper” is. Aliskerov has been slowly but surely rebuilding since and now finds himself on a three-fight win streak. A fight with Nursulton Ruziboev, who also earned a third consecutive victory in this card, to see who gets a spot in the rankings would make a lot of sense.
Aliskerov’s next fight: Nursulton Ruziboev
Abus Magomedov
While it’s been an up and down affair for Abus Magomedov in the UFC, the caliber of fighters who have beaten him is quite high. Champion Sean Strickland and top10 middleweights Caio Borralho and Joe Pyfer are the only ones with a win against Abus. This certainly puts a ceiling on what we can expect Magomedov to accomplish, but a win against the streaking Michal Oleksiejczuk also proves that he will be a tough out for anyone who’s not cut out for the top10. As for what’s next, I’d like to see how Abus would deal with someone with the durability of Kelvin Gastelum.
Magomedov’s next fight: Kelvin Gastelum
