Manuel Torres

Rafael Fiziev proved he belonged back in the win column with his highlight reel second round finish over (#13) Manuel Torres in the main event of UFC Baku on Saturday. Torres, who appeared on the 2021 season of the Contender Series has now gone 5-2 with the UFC. Manuel hasn’t seen the final bell in his career with the promotion yet. All of his wins are first round performance winning stoppages. And Manuel’s other loss came in September of 2024 to Ignacio Bahamondes in the first round of their bout.

Menuel’s next fight should be against a man he’s already been scheduled against, Beneil Dariush. This is a pick that was featured on a previous edition of losers and in this scenario, it’s aged well. The pair were supposed to fight in April of this year, before Torres withdrew. Beneil fought Quillan Salkilld instead and was finished in the first round in early May. Dariush has now lost four of his last five but had ripped off an 8-fight win streak before that. Not to mention those other three losses were to Charles Oliveira, Arman Tsarukyan and Benoit Sanit Denis. This is a good fight to determine who is worthy of staying within the rankings at lightweight between a young gun and a proven vet. Timing works too and this could be a co main of a fight night card, easy.

Torres’s next fight: Beneil Dariush 

Michel Pereira

Shara Magomedov bested Michel Pereira in a break-neck back-and-forth middleweight standup battle in the co main event. Michel has now lost 4 of his last five bouts. He’s now 10-6 with the UFC and 4-4 since moving from welterweight in 2023. This has been a rough stretch for Michel as he’s been finished by Anthony Hernandez and Kyle Daukaus during 5-fight line up. Abus Magomedov is the other fighter Michel dropped a unanimous decision to. Only victory was Zach Reese by spit decision back in February.

Michel should take on the loser of Marc-Andre Barriault vs. Brad Tavares. That fight is schedule for July 18th so the timing would be great. At this point, Pereira has all but solidified himself as a middleweight gate keeper. MAB has almost everyone at middleweight and is purely a “bombs-away” fighter with a 6-10, 1 NC record within the UFC. He’s on a two-fight skid losing a pair of unanimous decisions to Shara Magomedov and Mical Oleksiejczuk. Pereira has already fought Oleksiejczuk and defeated him back in _____. But long story short, MAB has also lost four of his last five. Brad Tavares is a 16-year UYFC vet with a record of 16-12. He’s lost four of his last five too. He’s on a 2-fight skid, getting finished by Robert Bryczek then dropping a unanimous decision to Eryk Anders in March. give Pereira the loser. Guaranteed action at a similar level of competition and fresh matchups.

Pereira’s next fight: Marc-Andre Barriault vs. Brad Tavares loser

Nazim Sadykhov

Matheus Camilo landed a picture perfect straight right dropping Nazim Sadyhkhov before leaping on him to violently finish the job on Saturday. Nazim’s losing streak now climbs to two as the 2022 Contender Series veteran was coming off a second-round stoppage to Fares Ziam last December.  Sadykhov is now 4-2-1 with the promotion, though he still has notable wins over names like, Evan Elder, Terrance McKinney, Ismael Bonfim, and Nikolas Motta.

Perfect next fight for Nazim would be the loser of the Mike Davis vs. Nurullo Aliev fight. That fight is scheduled for July 25th so not bad for the timing. Davis is 5-2 in the UFC, and his last loss was to Fares Ziam back in February of 2025. Aliev is 11-0 as a pro and 3-0 within the promotion. He’s got wins over Rafel Alves, Joe Solecki and Shem Rock. If Mike gives Nurullo his first loss, then Nazim would be the perfect follow up.  And if the fight has the other outcome, Nazim and Mike have had the same opponent and outcome recently. Good booking here and could sneak onto the main card of a fight night too.

Sadykhov’s next fight: Mike Davis vs. Nurullo Aliev loser

Charles Johnson

(#7) Asu Almabayev waited until the late in the third round of his one-sided performance to pull off a nasty suloev stretch in one of the most painful submissions UFC fans have watched in recent history. Devastating outcome for (#15) Charles Johnson who is now 8-7 with the promotion and has bounced between the win and loss columns in his last six bouts. Win over Sumudaerji, a loss to Ramazan Temirov, then the first fight to beat Lone’er Kavanagh. After that, stopped in the first by Alex Perez back in January before turning around and beating Bruno Silva via split decision less than two months later.

Charles should fight Jose Ochoa in his next fight. Ochoa is 9-2 within the UFC and has lost unanimous decisions to Lone’er Kavanah and Asu Almabayev. Ochoa’s UFC victories included a bonus winning second round finish over Cody Durden and his last outing a unanimous decision victory over Claytopn Carpenter in May. Giving Ochoa Charles as he’s coming off a win makes more sense as Johnson was rounding out the flyweight rankings heading into UFC Baku. This one could be on the prelims of a numbered card or main card of fight night card.

Johnson’s next fight:  Jose Ochoa

Brunno Ferreira

Ikram Aliskerov defeated Brunno Ferreira on the main card of UFC Baku on Saturday in a strategically fought victory. Ferreira has now lost two in a row, falling to a 6-4 record with the promotion since being singed off the 2022 season of the Contender Series.

Brunno’s next fight should be against Michal Oleksiejczuk. Veering away from a previous losers pick here of Edmen Shahbazyan, thought Edmen would make a great backup. Brunno is on a downward slide but has fought some exceptional guys (Marvin Vettori, Gregory Rodrigues). Brunno also has a submission loss at the hands of Abus Magomedov, but it came in October of 2024. Ferreira needs to prove he can stop the slide and deserves to fight for spot within the rankings at middleweight. Michal might do that a little faster for him than Edmen, but again, just fine as a second option.

Ferreira’s next fight: Michal Oleksiejczuk or Edmen Shahbazyan 

Michal Oleksiejczuk

Abus Magomedov craftily weathered some powerful strikes early to secure a guillotine choke late in the first round on Saturday. Michal, who was riding a 3-fight winning streak, now falls to 10-8-1 within the UFC. Oleksiejczuk is quickly becoming one of those fighters that has taken on nearly everyone. His win streak was a couple of wins away from bringing him out of his gatekeeper status as well.

Michal’s next fight should be against Brunno Ferreira who also competed on the card. The timing would be excellent, the two have a common opponent and are at around the same level currently. Good backup here for Michal would be a bout against Mantas Kondratavicius. Mantas is 1-0 in the UFC and got his shot with the promotion off of his performance on the 2025 season of the Contender Series. Mantas defeated Antonio Trocoli back in March via unanimous decision in his promotional debut. Michal would be a good litmus test for the newcomer.

Oleksiejczuk’s next fight: Brunno Ferreira or Mantas Kondratavicius

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The card’s lightweight main event found Fiziev looking to return to the win column following a loss to Mauricio Ruffy. Born in Kazakhstan and fighting out of Tiger Muay Thai, Fiziev had fought some of the best at 155lbs, including Justin Gaethje, King Green, Rafael dos Anjos, Mateusz Gamrot and others.

Torres was happy to get his hands going and trade with the always-dangerous Fiziev to start round one. Fiziev got a kick in, then changed levels and landed a takedown, mixing things up a bit. Torres was quickly back to his feet, but landed low with a knee, leading to a brief break. Back underway, Torres would catch Fiziev with a punch, leading to him retreating for a moment. He regrouped, and the pair got back to trading at center. Lots of back-and-forth in the back half of the round. Torres would go to the ground in the final minute, more of a slip, but wasn’t down long. He’d fire a knee trailed by a punch in the final minute, then land a crisp jab.

Rafael Fiziev shut things down early in round two. A spinning back kick caught Torres, and dropped him even partially blocked. Fiziev went in for the kill with uppercuts, lefts and rights. One sent him down, and some follow-up strikes sealed the deal. The crowd erupted, with Fiziev getting a huge win at home.

Torres was seen sporting a massive mouse under his eye following the stoppage. Fiziev, meanwhile, called for a shot at the “BMF” belt, currently held by Charles Oliveira. The pair were previously scheduled to fight, only for the bout to fall through last October.

Official Result: Rafael Fiziev def. Manuel Torres by TKO (spinning back kick and punches), Round 2, 0:15

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To the point of being asked whether Fiziev could finish him early on.

The Mexican lightweight took it all in stride. “I dont believe so. I do not believe so,” stated Torres (17-3). Shortly thereafter, he was essentially asked the same question a second time, about Fiziev beating his opponents in the first round, and whether it was possible that Torres himself would go down in round one.

Torres turned the question around, suggesting he could win in the opening frame and saying “yes, I think it’s possible. I’m always prepared to fight, and I’m prepoared to fight for five rounds, but it’s part of my strategy to win in the first round.”

Torres has won his last two fights, and is 5-1 overall in the UFC, helping him land his first main event in the promotion. Fiziev’s last win came at home in Baku, so his confidence is no doubt high coming back home. Manuel Torres, however, feels Fiziev hasn’t seen the entirety of his skillset.

“Truthfully I think that rafael fiziev has not seen my game, really, because I finish my fights in the first couple of minutes. But I’m coming in with my game and my pace, just gonna impose myself on the way to a win.”

Torres would later speak on the lightweight division overall, which just saw Justin Gaethje claim gold from Ilia Topuria. “It is the most dangerous division. It’s a division where it’s the most talented, definitely the most exciting division in the sport. And I think things are going to flow, and they’re going to flow up until the time that I have a shot at the title.”

Watch the full UFC Baku media day appearance by Manuel Torres above.

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Mexico’s Torres has put together a 5-1 record to earn his first main event stint in the promotion, while Fiziev got back in the win column last year with a victory over Ignacio Bahamondes. He’s since dropped a fight to Mauricio Ruffy, but his losses have come to some of the best, including two in the UFC against Justin Gaethje, now the undisputed lightweight champion.

In the night’s co-main event, middleweights Michel Pereira and Shara Bullet were set to face off. Pereira had gotten back in the win column in his last fight, while Shara was competing for the first time in a year.

Weigh-ins for UFC Baku take place Friday, with the ceremonials set for 9AM ET, 6AM PT. Results can be found below.

UFC Baku: Fiziev vs. Torres Weigh-In Results

Main card

Lightweight: Rafael Fiziev (156) vs. Manuel Torres (156)
Middleweight: Sharabutdin Magomedov (186) vs. Michel Pereira (185.5)
Lightweight: Nazim Sadykhov (156) vs. Matheus Camilo (156)
Flyweight: Asu Almabayev (126) vs. Charles Johnson (125.5)
Middleweight: Ikram Aliskerov (186) vs. Brunno Ferreira (185)
Middleweight: Abusupiyan Magomedov (185.5) vs. Michał Oleksiejczuk (186)

Preliminary card

Welterweight: Farman Hasanov (170.5) vs. Eric Nolan (170.5)
Light Heavyweight: Abdul-Rakhman Yakhyaev (206) vs. Julius Walker (206)
Middleweight: Nursulton Ruziboev (186) vs. Andrey Pulyaev (186)
Featherweight: Kaan Ofli (146) vs. Javier Reyes (145.5)
Welterweight: Daniil Donchenko (170.5) vs. Theodor Berggren (171)
Bantamweight: Bekzat Almakhan (136) vs. Jean Matsumoto (135.5)
Welterweight: Tahir Abdullayev (170.5) vs. Jefferson Nascimento (171)

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The Azerbaijani is set to take on Manuel Torres in the main event of UFC Baku on June 27, 2026. Promotion officials announced the news on Tuesday.

The event takes place inside Azerbaijan’s National Gymnastics Arena.

Fiziev (13-5) defeated Ignacio Bahamondes as part of the UFC’s debut in Baku a year ago, then followed that up with a loss to Mauricio Ruffy at UFC 325 in Sydney, Australia. The 33-year old is 1-4 in his last five fights, though that also includes a pair of losses to Justin Gaethje, the current UFC interim lightweight champion.

Torres (17-3) is 5-1 in the UFC to date, and coming off back-to-back TKO victories over Grant Dawson and Drew Dober. His lone loss in the company came against Bahamondes, the last man Fiziev beat.

UFC officials have also confirmed a previously reported middleweight fight between Shara Bullet and Michel Pereira. UFC Baku on June 27 currently features the following reported match-ups:

• Rafael Fiziev vs. Manuel Torres
• Michał Oleksiejczuk vs. Abusupiyan Magomedov
• Sharabutdin Magomedov vs. Michel Pereira
• Brunno Ferreira vs. Ikram Aliskerov
• Nursulton Ruziboev vs. Andrey Pulyaev
• Marvin Vettori vs. Ismail Naurdiev
• Asu Almabayev vs. Charles Johnson
• Julius Walker vs. Abdul-Rakhman Yakhyaev
• Bekzat Almakhan vs. Jean Matsumoto

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The rematch, the final main event of the UFC’s numbered events on ESPN, was a thriller, with Petr Yan showing up in career-best form. On route to evening his career series with Dvalishvili, who was attempting to defend his 135lb title for a record-setting fourth time in a calendar year, Russia’s Yan displayed top-notch takedown defense, and even landed a few takedowns of his own. On top of that, he had the edge in striking, rocking and bloodying Dvalishvili early in the bout.

True to form, Dvalishvili’s cardio never faded, but he soon found himself in an unfamiliar position: fighting from behind. And he never could make up the gap, losing a unanimous decision with the closest score being a 48-47. The remaining two judges, however, scored the fight 49-46.

The win for Yan sets up a trilogy fight, which might be the smart play for the UFC, given how good Saturday’s headliner was.

Performance of the Night bonuses at UFC 323 went to Iwo Baraniewski, who got into a one-round, actually 89-second brawl with Ibo Aslan, and Manuel Torres. Torres put away Grant Dawson in the night’s featured prelim.

All four bonus-winners take home the usual $50,000 U.S. for their efforts (with that number set to rise in the new year).

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Known for fast starts and ruthless finishing instincts, Torres now gets the biggest test, and biggest opportunity, of his career.

“I came here looking for the knockout. I’m ready to wrestle all three rounds if necessary. I’m ready for everything,” Torres told reporters on Wednesday.

“I come prepared, I want to show that I belong in the top 15 in the world, and I come for the bonus, you know it.”

Torres (16-3) enters UFC 323 with a reputation as a dangerous finisher, yet he insists fans have only seen a fraction of what he’s capable of. He believes this matchup is his chance to reveal the deeper layers of his game, if Dawson can survive long enough to see them.

“I don’t think anybody really knows my style. All of my fights end in the first round. So I guess expect a surprise on Saturday night. You’ll see plenty of my weapons. If the fight goes longer than the first round, you’ll get to see all that. If not, then I’ll get a quick finish,” he said.

Torres knows that Dawson represents a step up in competition, but it’s the kind of challenge he has been waiting for. Rather than shy away from Dawson’s elite grappling pedigree, the Mexican lightweight embraces it.

“I’m excited to test myself against a guy like Grant Dawson. He’s a very good wrestler, and I’m ready to wrestle with him” he said.

“I want to get to Saturday already. I’m ready to find the holes in his game and take advantage of it at any moment.”

Watch the entire media day scrum with Manuel Torres above. He faces Grant Dawson at UFC 323 on Saturday night.

* Translated by Cageside Press

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Brandon Moreno

Despite adding another win to his already strong résumé, the former champion still finds himself in the same spot he was back in November when he defeated Amir Albazi. Yes, he’s a fan favourite from a market the UFC has shown a clear interest in, but the same factors that played against him are still present. It’s not just that he has multiple losses to the current champion, he has a recent loss to Brandon Royval. And Royval himself has refused to go away as a contender despite also having multiple losses to Alexandre Pantoja.

So until one of Pantoja or Royval loses, Moreno cannot confidently say that he’s next in line for a title shot. As for Royval, he finds himself in the very same boat as “The Assassin Baby.” As Pantoja appears set to defend his title against one of Kai Kara-France or Manel Kape next, the remedy to both Brandons’ situations seems obvious: book them against each other.

They are 1-1 and are both in limbo, waiting for “The Cannibal” to slip on a banana peel. Their last fight was a closely contested split decision. Run a trilogy and then the winner’s case will be undeniable.

Moreno’s next fight: Brandon Royval

Manuel Torres

Only four days removed from his 30^th birthday, Torres put on his most impressive performance to date. Win or lose, all four of his UFC fights had ended in the opening frame, and this one was no exception. Only this time, he did it against a well-known, high-quality opponent in Drew Dober in the UFC Mexico City co-main event.

As impressive and important as this bounce back was for Torres, I don’t think it’s enough to completely erase the bad taste from his performance in the Sphere. For that reason, I wouldn’t shoot him up the ranks just yet. Diego Ferreira is another wily veteran who has been historically durable and difficult to look good against. If Torres can do Ferreira like he just did Dober, then we’ll know he’s truly back on track.

Torres’ next fight: Diego Ferreira

Edgar Chairez

This was an emotional win for Chairez as he dedicated this victory to his late grandfather. He made quick work of C.J. Vergara, dropping and submitting him in just two and a half minutes.

Just about any name at flyweight would make sense for Chairez, but why not re-book a fight against another standout from this very card? Chairez was initially booked against Kevin Borjas in the Sphere before the Peruvian pulled out and Joshua Van stepped in. Both Chairez and Borjas impressed on Saturday, so re-booking this matchup makes all the sense in the world at this time.

Chairez’s next fight: Kevin Borjas

Raul Rosas Jr.

The youngest fighter in the promotion earned his fourth consecutive win and moved to 5-1 since signing with the UFC at just 17 years of age (his first fight coming shortly after his 18th birthday). This was probably his most mature performance yet against the best opponent he has faced. Vince Morales is a veteran who hasn’t been submitted since 2018 and has more than a few tricks up his sleeve. Rosas Jr. was able to outwrestle and out-grapple him, fending off Morales’ own submissions attempts in the process.

Despite this being his most solid win, it’s important to not get ahead of ourselves and still keep in mind that Rosas Jr. is only 20. There’s no real reason to push him up the ranks in the hopes that he could break the record for youngest champion in the promotion’s history. Yes, this was an encouraging performance for many reasons, but he’s still way behind the best that the division has to offer.

For those reasons, I still think we should aim to give him stylistically favourable matchups just so he can keep accruing experience. AJ Cunningham just lost his most recent fights by giving up five takedowns to SuYoung You. On paper, you would think a grappler of Rosas Jr.’s pedigree should be able to replicate this gameplan and earn himself another UFC win.

Rosas Jr.’s next fight: AJ Cunnigham

David Martinez

The 26-year-old impressed on last year’s Contender Series by how mature his game already is. He’s one of the most advanced fighters in his mid-20s that the promotion currently has under contract. Getting a 1^st-round KO in front of his home crowd at UFC Mexico City was a great way to start his UFC career. I think Martinez can handle higher competition than Saimon Oliveira (0-3 in the UFC), but we shouldn’t throw him to the wolves just yet.

Toshiomi Kazama has proved to be a very beatable opponent, but he’d be an upgrade on Oliveira simply based on the fact that he has a UFC win under his belt. This is the type of slight increase in level of competition that I think we should be expecting for a prospect like Martinez.

Martinez’s next fight: Toshiomi Kazama

Kevin Borjas

The Peruvian was fighting with his back against the wall. He was 0-2 in the promotion ahead of UFC Mexico City and was now booked as a set up fight for the crowd favourite “Lazy Boy” Rodriguez. But Borjas came out and looked better than ever, earning a unanimous decision victory.

As mentioned, his fight with Edgar Chairez should simply be re-booked. With both coming off impressive victories, the fight makes even more sense now than it did back in September.

Borjas’ next fight: Edgar Chairez

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It was four other fighters, three of them Mexican, who took home bonus money when the dust had cleared, however. The four Performance bonuses were handed out in lieu on a Fight of the Night, despite a couple of deserving options in Loopy Godinez vs. Julia Polastri, and Ronaldo Rodriguez vs. Kevin Borjas (though Rodriguez missing weight for the fight might have soured that option just a little).

Among those taking home an extra $50,000 U.S. on Saturday were two debuting fighters: bantamweight David Martinez, who scored a big main-card TKO finish of Saimon Oliveira, and middleweight Ateba Gautier. A DWCS alum, like Martinez, Gautier knocked out Jose Daniel Medina, setting up the finish with a knee.

Also claiming Performance of the Night bonuses at UFC Mexico City were Manuel Torres and Edgar Chairez. After Joe Pyfer’s fight with Kelvin Gasteum was pulled from the card, Chairez found his fight against CJ Vergara promoted to the main card. After putting away Vergara with a face crank, Chairez was overwhelmed with emotion, having earned his second win inside the octagon, and second in Mexico City for the promotion.

Torres won big in the UFC Mexico City co-main event, knocking down lightweight staple Drew Dober and battering him with hammer fists under the ref finally stepped in.

All four bonuses winners at the Arena CDMX in Mexico City take home an additional $50,000 on top of their purse, outfitting pay, etc.

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