Rafael Fiziev defeated Manuel Torres via second-round technical knockout at the National Gymnastics Arena during the UFC Fight Night event in Baku, Azerbaijan on Saturday, June 27, 2026.
Fiziev stopped Torres just 15 seconds into the second round using a combination of a head kick and subsequent punches on the ground, according to sports.
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The victory marks a successful return for the Azerbaijani fighter in front of his home crowd, having entered the matchup with only one win in his previous five appearances.
Fiziev established an aggressive pace early in the first round, successfully securing two takedowns against the Mexican fighter while targeting his legs and body with kicks.
Torres struggled to establish a consistent rhythm due to the movement of Fiziev, though he did land a significant punch to the head before the conclusion of the opening frame.
The decisive sequence occurred immediately at the start of the second round when Fiziev initiated the action with a powerful spinning hook kick.
Although the strike connected with the glove of Torres, the force of the impact forced the Mexican fighter to the canvas, allowing Fiziev to finish the contest with ground-and-pound strikes.
Co-Main Event and Other Results
In the co-main event, Russian middleweight Shara Magomedov secured a unanimous decision victory over Michel Pereira with scores of 29-28 across all three judge scorecards.
Magomedov overcame an early knockdown from a Pereira punch in the first round, capitalizing on the subsequent fatigue of the Brazilian fighter to control the remaining rounds through higher activity levels.
The event also featured a historic performance by flyweight Asu Almabayev, who became the fourth fighter in promotional history to secure a victory via a Suloev stretch submission.
Almabayev utilized his grappling skills to control Charles Johnson, eventually forcing the submission at the 3:33 mark of the third round after surviving a reverse triangle choke attempt.
Additionally, Australian featherweight Kaan Ofli overcame a seven-inch reach disadvantage to submit Javier Reyes via an arm-triangle choke at 4:16 of the opening round.
