UFC Baku results delivered exactly what the home crowd came for. Rafael Fiziev knocked out Manuel Torres with a spinning wheel kick and follow-up punches just 15 seconds into the second round, capping a card that produced finishes in nine of its 13 fights. Here are the full results from National Gymnastics Arena, along with our breakdown of what each outcome actually means heading forward.
Main Event: Fiziev Silences the Doubters With the Performance of His Career
Fiziev (14-5) walked into Baku with a brutal 1-4 record across his last five fights. That’s the kind of stretch that gets a veteran written off entirely. But the record needs context most recaps skip past.
One of those losses came against Mateusz Gamrot after Fiziev hurt his own foot mid-fight. Two others were close decision losses to Justin Gaethje, the same man who now holds the lightweight title. Only his most recent knockout loss to Mauricio Ruffy was a clean defeat. Fiziev wasn’t washed. He was unlucky, and matched tough.
Saturday proved it. Torres (17-4) came out aggressive in round one, landing a shot that left Fiziev with double vision in his left eye. Most fighters manage that kind of damage and just try to survive the round. Fiziev adjusted instead.
He later explained that closing his damaged left eye let him see clearly enough out of his right to time his shot. Seconds into round two, he landed a spinning wheel kick to the chin that put Torres on roller skates. He closed the show with follow-up punches before the fight could go another ten seconds.
It earned him a $100,000 Performance of the Night bonus and an immediate callout for a BMF title shot. Fiziev says the belt’s current holder is too far removed from the division to defend it properly. Whether that fight actually happens against someone like Charles Oliveira is a separate question. The bigger point stands either way: Fiziev is not done, and the lightweight conversation now has to include him again.
Co-Main Event: Magomedov Survives Adversity, But the Story Doesn’t End at the Final Bell
UFC Baku weigh-Ins made this fight more important. The middleweight co-main event between Shara Magomedov (13-1) and Michel Pereira (32-15) opened as a potential disaster for the German-based striker. Pereira dropped him with a clean right hand inside the first two minutes and followed with heavy ground-and-pound, putting Magomedov in real danger early.
Referee Herb Dean stepped in mid-exchange to warn Magomedov about grabbing Pereira’s ponytail during a scramble. That moment became its own talking point once the broadcast replayed it.
From there, Magomedov did something he hadn’t shown much of in his UFC run: composure under fire. He settled into range, picked Pereira apart with kicks and steady volume, and won the final two rounds on all three scorecards. The 29-28 unanimous decision gives him his sixth win in seven UFC appearances. It may be the best he has looked yet, precisely because of how he responded to adversity rather than how clean the win looked.
The result didn’t sit well with everyone, though. A separate former champion, also named Alex Pereira, publicly called Herb Dean a “coward” afterward. It’s the latest in a string of complaints about Dean’s officiating this year. That criticism targets the referee, not the result itself, but it adds another layer to a co-main event that already had plenty going on before the scorecards were even read.
The Rest of the Card Was Built Entirely on Finishes
Baku’s undercard didn’t just support the top of the bill. It nearly stole the show outright. Matheus Camilo needed only 94 seconds to stop hometown favorite Nazim Sadykhov, silencing a crowd that had shown up specifically to cheer him on.
Flyweight contender Asu Almabayev landed a Suloev stretch submission over Charles Johnson in round three. It was just the fourth time that specific submission has ever finished a UFC fight.
The most eye-catching performance outside the main event belonged to light heavyweight prospect Abdul Rakhman Yakhyaev. He needed just eight seconds to knock out Julius Walker, the seventh-fastest finish in the division’s history. At 25 years old and now a perfect 10-0, every one of his wins has come by finish.
He has officially run out of room for soft matchmaking. This win moves him to a level where the UFC has to start testing him against real ranked competition.
Elsewhere, Nursulton Ruziboev returned from a full year away to choke out Andrey Pulyaev in round one. Ikram Aliskerov cruised to a clean decision over Brunno Ferreira. Abus Magomedov added a first-round guillotine finish over Michal Oleksiejczuk to open the main card.
What Saturday Actually Changes Going Forward
Fiziev’s win does more than snap a losing streak. It forces a real conversation about where he fits in the lightweight picture. That matters even more now, with the new Meta Ranking system scoring performances differently than the old media panel did. A finish this dominant, against an opponent this dangerous, should carry weight under a system built on data instead of opinion.
Magomedov’s win matters for a different reason. It won’t vault him up the rankings on its own, but it answers a real question about his ceiling. Can he win when a fight doesn’t go his way early? Saturday says yes, and that matters more long-term than a clean, uneventful decision would have.
For the full picture of how this card came together, our complete preview of UFC Baku and our coverage of the fight week lineup changes both hold up well against how Saturday actually played out.
Conclusion
UFC Baku turned into one of the most finish-heavy cards of the year, anchored by a career-reviving knockout from its hometown headliner. Fiziev leaves with real momentum and a louder voice in the BMF conversation. Magomedov proved he can win ugly when a fight refuses to go to plan. And in Yakhyaev, the card produced a genuine breakout star who has earned the right to be tested against the division’s best. Saturday wasn’t just a results page. It reshaped real conversations across three weight classes heading into the second half of 2026.
