Fiziev def. Torres
KO/TKO · spinning wheel kick · Round 2 · 0:15
Fiziev vs Torres — Lightweight · UFC Baku
What happened
Rafael Fiziev snapped his skid in front of the Baku crowd. A competitive opening round — Fiziev blending takedowns and clean counters while Manuel Torres marched forward — gave way instantly at the start of the second, when Fiziev spun through a wheel kick that dropped Torres flush and swarmed with punches on the mat about 15 seconds into the frame.
- Round one stayed competitive, Fiziev mixing takedowns and counters rather than giving Torres a pure brawl.
- Roughly 15 seconds into round two the spinning wheel kick landed flush and sent Torres crashing down.
- Fiziev followed instantly with ground strikes as Torres tried to rise, forcing the stoppage.
Watch
The finish, right after the recap.
Who Called It?
How the analysts' picks held up once the cage door closed.
Caller scorecard: MMA JOEY perfect call; Bedtime MMA missed; DFS By The Numbers missed.
Only 1 of 3 called the upset · 1 nailed the finish ★.
The experts above are a lens, not credentials we conferred — analyst, fighter or betting desk.
Full analyst picks ↓
MMA JOEY Analyst called 13 of 16 MMA JOEY: predicted Fiziev · KO/TKO · R2. Actual Fiziev · KO/TKO R2. Result: Perfect call.
MMA Joey goes against the Torres momentum and picks Fiziev by second-round TKO, trusting his technical striking, counters and late-fight edge if he survives the early onslaught.
Track record: winner called in 13 of 16 resolved picks, 2 a perfect call.
Bedtime MMA Analyst called 36 of 58 Bedtime MMA: predicted Torres · KO/TKO. Actual Fiziev · KO/TKO R2. Result: Miss.
Bedtime takes Torres by knockout, arguing his size, reach, forward boxing and finishing instinct can break through Fiziev's kicking range before the later rounds.
Track record: winner called in 36 of 58 resolved picks, 18 a perfect call.
DFS By The Numbers Betting deskAnalyst called 32 of 47 DFS By The Numbers: predicted Torres · KO/TKO. Actual Fiziev · KO/TKO R2. Result: Miss.
DFS picks Torres, reading the career trajectories in opposite directions and expecting Torres to land the bigger shot while Fiziev is still vulnerable from recent damage.
Track record: winner called in 32 of 47 resolved picks, 13 a perfect call.
Archive
Pre-fight material — kept for transparency, folded by default.
Tale of the Tape
Records & career stats — as they entered fight night
- 4.71 6.57
- 50% 50%
- 4.81 4.24
- 90% 77%
- 64% 94%
- 13-5-0
- Record
- 17-3-0
- 2-3 last 5
- Recent formRecent formWin–loss record over the fighter’s last five bouts, newest first, as carried in their UFC/FightMetric career stats.
- 4-1 last 5
- Switch
- StanceStanceWhich side a fighter leads from — a striking term, not a religious one. Orthodox: right-handed, left foot and hand forward (the common default). Southpaw: the mirror image, right side forward (usually a left-hander). Switch: changes between the two during a fight.
- Switch
- 11:32
- Avg. fight timeAvg. timeAverage fight timeThe mean length of the fighter’s bouts (minutes:seconds) — a rough read on whether they tend to finish early or go the distance. From UFC/FightMetric.
- 2:50
- Azerbaijan
- Nationality
- Mexico
- Tiger Muay Thai · Phuket
- Team
- Aldama's Muay Thai Gym · Tijuana
Career stats per UFC.com; recent form is each fighter's last five bouts. Numbers reflect records coming into fight night. Bars compare each stat on a fixed scale; the “Edge” marker flags the leading corner where the gap is meaningful. The snapshot plots five career rates — output, striking defense, durability (strikes absorbed, inverted), takedown defense and finish rate — each normalised on its own scale.
Pre-fight analysis — how we saw it going in
Case for Fiziev
Fiziev is the counter-striking genius fighting on home soil in Baku, and his spinning technique library — wheel kicks, back kicks, spinning heel kicks — is uniquely suited to punish Torres's aggressive, forward-pressure style. Despite a rough 1-4 run, Fiziev's technical ceiling is undeniable, and against a fighter who attacks on a straight line, his defensive IQ and timing are decisive weapons.
Case for Torres
Torres is the most dangerous first-round finisher in the division — five UFC wins, all by first-round knockout, with 16 of 17 career wins by stoppage. At 6'0" with a 73" reach, he carries size advantages and a genuine 66% model win probability. If he can get inside Fiziev's range before the crowd-fuelled counter-striker finds his rhythm, the finish could come before any home-crowd factor kicks in.
What We Were Watching For
- The opening two minutes — Torres's entire gameplan is destroying opponents early; every extra minute Fiziev stays upright is time for his timing to develop and for the home crowd to lift him.
- Fiziev's spinning techniques — his wheel kicks and back kicks have ended UFC fights, and Torres's straight-line aggression creates the exact angles Fiziev has always exploited.
- Fiziev's composure — 1-4 in his last five going in, fighting in front of a home crowd that expects a win; can he suppress that pressure and execute a disciplined gameplan?
- Torres's ground game — virtually untested in MMA; if Fiziev clinches to slow Torres's pace, can Torres respond with anything other than striking?
Fighters
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