Rafael Fiziev will meet Manuel Torres in the lightweight main event at UFC Baku on Saturday, June 27, at National Gymnastics Arena in Baku, Azerbaijan. The card is built around a homecoming fight for Fiziev and a fast-rising test for Torres, and it will air live on Paramount+.
The matchup gives Fiziev, the No. 11 lightweight who is 13-5 and fights out of Baku by way of Phuket, Thailand, a chance to perform in front of a local crowd. Torres arrives with a 17-3 record out of Ciudad Madera, Chihuahua, Mexico, and 16 of his 17 wins have come in the first round, a finishing streak that makes him a dangerous opponent in any short exchange.
That contrast is part of why the fight stands out. Fiziev has the ranking and the home soil; Torres brings the kind of start-fast pressure that can erase both before a bout settles into a rhythm. In a division where position matters, the winner gets more than a main event result — he gets a result the UFC can use to justify what comes next.
UFC Baku begins with prelims at 9am ET and 6am PT, followed by the main card at 12pm ET and 9am PT. The rest of the show adds middleweight bouts between Abus Magomedov and Michal Oleksiejczuk, and Ikram Aliskerov and Brunno Ferreira, plus a flyweight matchup between Asu Almabayev and Charles Johnson and a lightweight fight between Nazim Sadykhov and Matheus Camilo. Shara Magomedov and Michel Pereira meet in the co-main event, with Pereira listed at 32-14 with 2 NC.
For Fiziev, the night is about holding serve in Baku. For Torres, it is about turning first-round power into a statement strong enough to move him from threat to problem.
