You only get one Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) debut!
Four rookies stepped into the Octagon yesterday (Sat., June 27, 2026) at UFC Baku inside Baku Crystal Hall in Baku, Azerbaijan. Collectively, the newcomers went 2-2, but none of them were very memorable.
Now that the dust has settled, let’s grade their respective performances below:
Farman Hasanov
On May 11, the promotion announced it had signed Farman Hasanov, a 5-0, 30-year-old prospect from Azerbaijan, to fight Eric Nolan at UFC Baku.
Was it probably a little
too soon to bring him in, especially with Contender Series returning in two months? Yeah, probably. But Hasanov clearly defeated Nolan.
Hasanov got the first takedown and then hit about eight mat returns, including a huge slam. Because of those mat returns, he broke the record for most takedowns in a single round with nine. However, Hasanov did almost zero damage while on top of Nolan.
The second round was more of the same. Hasanov scored another takedown and slowly transitioned to back mount. Nolan eventually got up and nearly landed a knee up the middle, but Hasanov dragged him back down in the middle of the cage. After another minute or so, Nolan worked his way back to the fence and returned to his feet.
By that point, Hasanov had shown his cards and was ridiculously gassed. Somehow, he still landed another takedown.
Needing a finish, Nolan came out extra aggressive in the third round, but he did not have much success. Hasanov continued landing takedowns, and by the end of the fight, the broadcast announced that he had set the all-time record for takedowns in a Welterweight bout.
That was not exactly true because Hasanov was officially credited with 17 takedowns.
Nevertheless, I’m stalling because this fight was not fun to watch.
Hasanov was dominant with his wrestling, but he did not do much with it. No real damage. No submission attempts. Nothing that makes you excited to see what comes next.
When UFC matches him up with someone with great takedown defense, he is going to be in trouble.
He can fight Court McGee at the Salt Lake City numbered event in early October.
Final grade: C-
Theodor Berggren
Another questionable UFC Baku signing was Sweden’s Theodor Berggren, who got the short-notice call to fight Daniil Donchenko despite entering his debut just 2-2 in his last four fights.
Still, Berggren had some moments in his UFC debut.
SDonchenko clearly got the better of the opening round with pressure, power and consistent body work. After a few awkward early exchanges between Berggren’s southpaw stance and Donchenko’s orthodox look, Donchenko found his rhythm with hard leg kicks, body shots and a sweeping right hand that badly got Berggren’s attention.
To Berggren’s credit, he showed toughness and composure under fire. He covered up, recovered along the fence and even answered with a hard body kick, a step-in knee and a punch upstairs.
However, Donchenko kept marching forward, mixing in dirty boxing, straight shots to the body and hacking kicks to Berggren’s lead leg to close out a strong first round.
Berggren came out still marching forward in Round 2 and found some success upstairs, including a clean left hand as Donchenko stepped in. Donchenko slowed down a bit, but he was still throwing heat, chopping at Berggren’s legs from both stances and mixing in body shots.
Donchenko fired a right high kick that smashed through Berggren’s guard and dropped him near the fence. Berggren tried to scramble back to his feet, but Donchenko pounced, unloaded along the fence and forced the referee stoppage for a violent second-round finish (watch highlights).
I have no idea how long Berggren will stay in UFC, but while he is here, he should be fun to watch — as long as he gets matched up with strikers because his takedown defense is bad.
So, with that being said, let’s run Berggren vs. Khaos Williams.
Final grade: D
Tahir Abdullayev & Jefferson Nascimento
Boy oh boy.
Rookies Tahir Abdullayev and Jefferson Nascimento kicked off the prelims, and it was an awful fight with a very bad stoppage.
Through two rounds, Abdullayev had connected on just 11 significant strikes. Nascimento connected on seven in the first round and 15 in the second.
So, yeah, the fight was well on its way to being one of the worst of the year.
Then, out of nowhere, Abdullayev went for broke in the final round and forced Nascimento into a firefight. Abdullayev was winning the early exchanges before mixing in takedowns, top control and ground-and-pound, while Nascimento mostly worked to survive and get back to his feet.
With under a minute left, Abdullayev dove back into guard with a huge punch that hurt Nascimento and forced the referee to jump in (watch highlights).
It was an awful stoppage — It felt early, and it looked like the referee gave the hometown fighter the benefit of the doubt in a fight he was likely losing.
As for Abdullayev, yes, he technically won his UFC debut, but there was not much to get excited about. He showed toughness and urgency late, but through the first two rounds, he offered very little offense and was losing a pretty bad fight.
I think he will probably get released after he completes his first contract.
He should fight Rodrigo Sezinando next.
Final grade: D
Nascimento got the short end of the stick.
Was he lighting the world on fire before the stoppage? Absolutely not. This was a lackluster fight, and he was part of the reason why.
But he was also well on his way to winning it.
I do think Nascimento is a good fighter. He was fighting up a weight class, still looked like he was headed toward a win, and should have success in UFC with the right matchup.
Unfortunately for him, his debut now goes down as a loss because of a questionable stoppage in a bad fight.
That is brutal.
Nascimento should fight Bolaji Oki in his second outing.
Final grade: D
For more UFC Baku results, coverage, and highlights, click HERE.
