UFC Reveals Banger Main Event for Upcoming UFC Fight Night in Baku

The UFC’s second event Baku event officially has a headlining bout that's sure to get hardcore fight fans excited.

After first making the trip to Azerbaijan last year for a card that saw Khalil Rountree Jr. batter former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Jamahal Hill in the night’s main event, the UFC is set to return to Baku Crystal Hall for another UFC Fight Night show on June 27.

This year’s edition of UFC Baku has been steadily adding fights over the last month or two, and this week the promotion officially announced that Rafael Fiziev vs. Manuel Torres will feature as the card’s lightweight main event.

Rafael Fiziev vs. Manuel Torres Headlines UFC Baku

Currently sitting at #11 in the official UFC lightweight rankings, Fiziev competed in the co-main event of UFC Baku last year and took a unanimous decision over Ignacio Bahamondes.

Justin Gaethje (red gloves) fights Rafael Fiziev (blue gloves) during UFC 313 at T-Mobile Arena. | Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images

That result snapped a three-fight skid for Fiziev, who was knocked out in his UFC debut in 2019 before rebounding with an impressive six-fight win streak that included five-straight post-fight bonuses. “Ataman” most recently competed at UFC 325, where he was stopped by Mauricio Ruffy in
the second round.

Grant Dawson (red gloves) fights Manuel Torres (blue gloves) during UFC 323 at T-Mobile Arena. | Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images

Fiziev will be tasked with defending his spot in the lightweight rankings when he returns to headline UFC Baku against Torres, who is coming off back-to-back knockouts of Drew Dober and Grant Dawson and has also secured post-fight bonuses after all five of his UFC victories.

Michel Pereira Meets Shara Magomedov in UFC Baku Co-Main Event

Along with announcing the main event between Fiziev and Torres, the UFC also confirmed that the UFC Baku co-main event will see Michel Pereira square off with Shara Magomedov in a middleweight contest.

A former welterweight, Pereira moved up to 185 lbs. in 2023 and won three-straight bouts to bring his overall run of victories to eight fights. That streak came to a halt with three-straight losses, but the Brazilian returned to the win column in February when he took a split decision over Zach Reese.

Zachary Reese (red gloves) fights Michel Pereira (blue gloves) in a middleweight bout during UFC Fight Night at Toyota Center. | Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

Magomedov joined the UFC as an unbeaten talent in 2023 and won his first four fights in the Octagon before coming up short against Michael Page in Saudi Arabia last year. “Bullet” took a unanimous decision over Marc-André Barriault in his most recent outing last July and also secured his fourth post-fight bonus out of six UFC appearances.

Shara Magomedov scored a Knockout of the Year-contender at UFC 303. | (Craig Kidwell/MMA Junkie

UFC Baku appears to be shaping up well now that the promotion has confirmed its main and co-main events, and there’s still a couple of spots open for the UFC to add more fights to the card ahead of June 27.

UFC Baku Fight Card

Main Event: Rafael Fiziev vs. Manuel Torres

Co-Main Event: Michel Pereira vs. Shara Magomedov

Brunno Ferreira vs. Ikram Aliskerov

Asu Almabayev vs. Charles Johnson

Abdul Rakhman Yakhyaev vs. Julius Walker

Rizvan Kuniev vs. Tyrell Fortune

Nursulton Ruziboev vs. Andre Pulyaev

Bekzat Almakhan vs. Jean Matsumoto

Daniil Donchencko vs. Andreas Gustafsson

Nazim Sadykhov vs. Matheus Camilo

Add us as a preferred source on Google