Rafael Fiziev scores spectacular KO in emotional Baku homecoming

Rafael Fiziev closed UFC Fight Night 280 in Baku with a second-round TKO of Manuel Torres 15 seconds into the frame, turning his first UFC main-event homecoming into the night’s defining moment at National Gymnastics Arena. The crowd in Baku got the finish it had been waiting for as Fiziev made good on the UFC’s billing of the bout as an emotional return to his homeland.

Torres entered at 17-4 overall and 5-2 in the UFC as one of the division’s most dangerous finishers, with UFC athlete notes pointing to bonus-winning performances in all five of his Octagon victories and a strike stoppage of Grant Dawson on Dec. 6, 2025. Fiziev, 14-5 overall and 8-5 in the UFC, answered that challenge by dragging the fight into the second round and then detonating a spinning wheel kick and follow-up punches before referee Marc Goddard stepped in.

The result fit the UFC’s pre-fight framing, which cast Fiziev and Torres as ranked lightweight standouts with the winner positioned for a potential Top 10 matchup later in the year. It also mattered for Fiziev’s broader trajectory: the UFC had described him as trying to snap out of a difficult stretch and push himself back into the lightweight top 15, and a finish this violent is the kind of outcome that can alter divisional momentum in a single round.

Baku was built for that kind of showcase. The event began with prelims at 9 a.m. ET and the main card at 12 p.m. ET, while the co-main event paired Shara Magomedov with Michel Pereira, adding another marquee fight to a card designed around local relevance and international appeal. The show also sat inside the UFC’s multi-year agreement to bring annual Fight Nights to Baku through 2028, giving Fiziev’s performance added weight as the promotion keeps building around recognizable Azerbaijani names.