This is the live blog for Rafael Fiziev vs. Manuel Torres, the lightweight main event for Saturday’s UFC Baku card at National Gymnastics Arena in Baku, Azerbaijan.
Fiziev is hanging on to a top 15 spot at 155 pounds in the MMA Fighting Global Rankings, while Torres looks to establish himself among the elite of one of MMA’s deepest divisions.
Azerbaijan’s Fiziev (13-5) is mired in the worst stretch of his career, having suffered a knockout loss to Mauricio Ruffy this past February at UFC 325 that sent
him to his fourth loss in five fights. Prior to this slump, Fiziev had won six straight fights and was well on his way to a title shot before dropping fights to Justin Gaethje, Ruffy, and Gamrot, the latter via a knee injury that took him out of action for a year and a half.
Torres (17-3) is trending in the opposite direction, coming off of consecutive first-round knockouts of Grant Dawson and Drew Dober. Since being signed off of Dana White’s Contender Series in 2021, Torres has won five of his six UFC fights.
Check out the Rafael Fiziev vs. Manuel Torres live blog below.
