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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After a closely contested opening round, Fiziev put Torres away early in the second, setting it up with a spinning back kick that while blocked still sent the Mexican lightweight to the canvas.

Torres struggled back to his feet but was felled again as Fiziev turned up the heat, firing lefts and rights and finally finishing it off with a few more punishing follow-up strikes. The victory saw Fiziev return to the win column following a loss to Mauricio Ruffy earlier this year, and pick up one of four Performance of the Night bonuses announced following UFC Baku.

No Fight of the Night was awarded as part of the UFC’s second-ever trip to Azerbaijan.

Also among the bonus-winners, Asu Almabayev, who may find himself in the running for Submission of the Year. After dominating Charles Johnson for the better part of two rounds, Almabayev locked up a rarely-seen Suloev stretch in the third, forcing the tap. There was never any doubt that the sub would earn bonus bucks.

With nine finishes on the card, Daniil Donchenko and Abdul-Rakhman Yakhyaev picked up the remaining Performance of the Night bonuses at UFC Baku. Donchenko put away newcomer Theodor Berggren with a head kick and a few follow-up blows; Yakhyaev took just eight seconds to knock out Julius Walker.

The remaining five finishers on the card earned $25,000 in bonus money for their own stoppages. Those were Tahir Abdullayev, Kaan Ofli, Nursulton Ruziboev, Abusupiyan Magomedov, and Matheus Camilo.

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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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Shara “Bullet” was competing for the first time in a year, and had ruffled Pereira’s feathers by making comments about his charitable efforts at home in Brazil, claiming he was “chasing likes,” and over his support for Israel.

Pereira, meanwhile, had called Shara a “conventional” fighter ahead of the bout.

Shara opened the action with a kick, and another, catching the outside leg of Pereira. Pereira’s first real offense, a right hand, dropped Shara Bullet, however, and he piled on the offense, raining down punches. The ref allowed Magomedov to fight on, a stark contrast from a fight earlier when Nazim Sadykhov went down quick.

Pereira continued to drop punches but Magomedov recovered enough to fire a few upkicks before “Demolidor” got right on top. Shara was then warned for hair pulling, and the action was stopped a second time for a harsher warning by ref Herb Dean. They got back underway with Pereira still on top, now in Magomedov’s closed guard. Pereira looked to land elbows, ripping the body at times as well. The crowd chanted “Shara” but the action was all Pereira. Towards the end of the round Pereira would back off, evade a few upkicks, and nearly take the back, though it backfired, with Magomedov getting on top in the final minute. Not enough to win back the round, but perhaps enough to stave off a 10-8.

Before the second frame got underway, ref Dean gave Shara Bullet another warning about hair pulling, and all fouls, with his translator present. Magomedov came out kicking again; Pereira fired a Superman punch off the cage. Magomedov went high with a kick, which was blocked, but he did land a few to the thigh, with Pereira answering back with kicks of his own. Neither man was letting their hands go, until Pereira closed the distance just shy of two minutes in. Magomedov was still focusing on his kicks. Pereira fired a right, and Magomedov fanned on a spinning back fist. Bullet attacked with a spinning kick late in the round, with a second boasting far less action that the first and Pereira finishing with a rolling thunder kick.

Pereira’s corner told him it was 1-1 heading into the third.

Magomedov opened the third  round with more kicks, while Pereira circled outside, reset, and looked for a way in. Pereira would choose to shoot a takedown, nearly find himself reversed, and pull free, only to eat a blatant eye poke from Magomedov. Dean had previously told Shara Bullet not to commit any more fouls, hair pulling or otherwise. Yet he failed to take a point, and Pereira took just over a minute to recover from the poke.

With action back underway, Pereira fired a few outside leg kicks. He fired a right hand, and went to the body, briefly letting go as Shara covered up. Magomedov landed a solid kick to the body. He then tried the double-spinning back fist, and jumped into a knee, with Pereira trying to catch him and transition into a takedown. After a quick scramble, Pereira pinned Magomedov up against the fence. Magomedov landed a knee to the body off the break which forced Pereira to retreat, which would take them to the final horn.

Official Result: Shara Bullet def. Michel Pereira by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

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The lightweight fight found Azerbaijan’s own “Black Wolf” entering with a 4-1-1 record under the UFC banner.

Sadykhov had the crowd firmly behind him as the third-to-last fight in Baku, Azerbaijan got underway. He switched stances a few times, and looked to pick his spots with his attacks, mixing in kicks and shots to the body. Camilo was outside, barely showing any offense, but when he did get going, he silenced the crowd in Azerbaijan in a heartbeat.

With Sadykhov on the way in, Camilo tagged him with a right hand, dropping the Azerbaijani star. Sadykhov wasn’t out, but was shelling up while Camilo rained down several more punches. The ref dove in, waving off the fight and handing Camilo the TKO victory, with Nazim Sadykhov immediately protesting and telling the ref to let him fight on. Not that it mattered as the call was made, and Matheus Camilo had the upset victory. The crowd didn’t like it, and let their voices be heard in the aftermath of the finish, and again while the result was announced.

“I think it was a great stoppage. Thank you so much to Nazim, he’s a great warrior, much respect to him,” Camilo said in his post-fight interview. That’s back-to-back wins for the Brazilian.

Official Result: Matheus Camilo def. Nazim Sadykhov by TKO, Round 1, 1:31

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Johnson, who holds a win over current flyweight champion Josh Van in the UFC, had been trading wins and losses across his last four fights. Almabayev, from Kazakhstan, was 6-1 in the promotion and ranked #9 in the division to Johnson’s #14.

Johnson used his length early, looking to land kicks, but Almabayev was able to land a few inside leg kicks of his own, and threaten with a couple of overhand rights. Johnson flashed stance switches, but ate a hook for his troubles and had to get out of the way of an Almabayev uppercut. Moments later, Johnson found himself on his back with Almabayev getting on top, in half guard, though Johnson reclaimed full guard before getting a butterfly hook in place. Yet try as he might, Johnson could not lift Almabayev enough to scramble free. Instead, Asu settled back in on top and moved to a guillotine, though he didn’t have it, and Johnson was at least able to move to a three-point stance.

Johnson had to contend with more leg kicks and overhands in round two, and when he tried to clinch up and land a takedown, Almabayev was having none of it. 90 seconds in, and Johnson slipped off a kick, nearly giving away dominant position though he was able to scramble free. Moments latter, “Inner G” had to endure a low blow in the form of a spinning back kick, with his “little Gs” needing a moment to recover. After a brief halt to the action, Johnson was good to go, with Almabayev getting right in his face off the restart. A quick takedown/mat return followed, and once back up Johnson finally got some offense in, firing a combo with Almabayev covering up. Seconds later, another takedown for Almabayev, who secured Johnson’s back after transitioning from side control. Johnson finished the round trapped in Almabayev’s bodylock, but he did finish the round.

“This is now a race for five minutes to knock him out. You’re not in a marathon no more, you’re in a race and you’ve got to knock him out,” Johnson’s corner exclaimed as the third round got underway. Almabayev came out swinging, then caught a Johnson knee and took him down, only to get stuck in a triangle. It looked dicey for a bit, but Almabayev survived, took the back, and after a bit of work, locked in the rarely-seen Suloev stretch! Johnson couldn’t pull free, was clearly in pain and forced to tap in short order! A stunning finish to a fantastic performance by Asu Almabayev.

Official Result: Asu Almabayev def. Charles Johnson by submission (Suloev stretch), Round 3, 3:33

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While that bout didn’t go his way, Aliskerov was still 4-1 in the promotion and looking to improve on that against Brunno Ferreira at UFC Baku in Azerbaijan on Saturday. Ferreira is A DWCS alum who holds impressive finish wins over Phil Hawes, Gregory Rodrigues, and Jackson McVey.

The first round started with Aliskerov pressing forward looking to land a big right hand. After a brief stop in the action for an accidently low blow, Aliskerov landed a nice knee followed by a takedown. Now in control on the ground the combat sambo world champion was fully in control with over a minute thirty remaining in the round. After the opening five minutes Aliskerov was in the lead.

The second round saw Aliskerov again take the fight to the ground where he threatened many submissions. Ferreira couldn’t get Aliskerov off of him and momentarily got to his feet but was returned to the mat moments after. Another dominant round for Aliskerov had Ferreira needing a finish entering the final five minutes.

Needing a finish in the final round Ferreira came out with a sense of urgency, but ran into a few solid straight shots from Aliskerov. Midway through the round Aliskerov again landed a takedown, doing some solid work until the end of the round. Cruising his way to a 30-27 unanimous decision victory, Aliskerov will likely receive a top opponent next, exactly what he called for post-fight.

Official Result: Ikram Aliskerov def. Brunno Ferreira by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

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Oleksiejczuk had been working with The Fighting Nerds the past couple of years and had won three straight; Magomedov had seen his own three-fight win streak snapped by Joe Pyfer last time out.

To start the opening round Magomedov pressed forward while Oleksiejczuk looked to time a big left hand. Magomedov landed a glancing head kick followed by an uppercut moments later. Oleksiejczuk came crashing forward with a massive overhand left but Magomedov tied him up in the clinch forcing the fight to the cage. After seperating Oleksiejczuk again came in range recklessly to throw a left hand, but Magomedov timed a beautiful elbow that folded the polish contender. Magomedov pounced on a hurt Oleksiejczuk and secured his neck for a guillotine submission victory.

After hurting the very dangerous Oleksiejczuk on the feet, Magomedov showed how well-rounded his game is finishing the fight on the floor. Magomedov called out the former champion Israel Adesanya following the win wanting a matchup with the middlweight great. Adesanya is currently ranked #8 in the world at the weightclass.

Official Result: Abus Magomedov def. Michal Oleksiejczuk via R1 SUB (Guillotine), 3:25

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Azerbaijan’s own Hasanov was debuting at home, 5-0 to start his professional MMA career, with three of those wins coming under the LFA banner. A bit of an early arrival to the UFC perhaps, with the signing clearly due to the UFC’s return to Baku.

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The undefeated Russian barely gave Julius Walker a chance to settle into the fight, detonating a crushing right hand seconds after the opening bell that shut the lights out and delivered one of the fastest, most devastating knockouts of the night at UFC Baku on Saturday. If there were any questions about Yakhyaev’s place in the division before this fight, they disappeared the moment Walker hit the canvas.

Round 1 – Yakhyaev wasted absolutely no time.

As soon as the fight started, he uncorked a bomb of a right hand that landed clean and shut Walker’s lights off. Walker hit the canvas in a heap, and when he finally came to, he looked completely confused, like he was trying to figure out where he was and what just happened.

A couple of follow up shots landed before the referee stepped in, but they really weren’t needed. The fight was over the second that right hand connected.

It was a scary display of power from Yakhyaev, who needed just one punch to end the fight and put the rest of the division on notice.

The victory may be exactly what Yakhyaev needed to carve his way into the top 15 and into a big time matchup with contender implications sooner than later.

Official Result: Abdul Rakhman Yakhyaev def. Julius Walker via R1 KO, 0:08

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