UFC Baku was a big night for Azerbaijan’s Rafael Fiziev, and he’s now $100,000 richer following his main event finish of Manuel Torres.
After a closely contested opening round, Fiziev put Torres away early in the second, setting it up with a spinning back kick that while blocked still sent the Mexican lightweight to the canvas.
Torres struggled back to his feet but was felled again as Fiziev turned up the heat, firing lefts and rights and finally finishing it off with a few more punishing follow-up strikes. The victory saw Fiziev return to the win column following a loss to Mauricio Ruffy earlier this year, and pick up one of four Performance of the Night bonuses announced following UFC Baku.
No Fight of the Night was awarded as part of the UFC’s second-ever trip to Azerbaijan.
Also among the bonus-winners, Asu Almabayev, who may find himself in the running for Submission of the Year. After dominating Charles Johnson for the better part of two rounds, Almabayev locked up a rarely-seen Suloev stretch in the third, forcing the tap. There was never any doubt that the sub would earn bonus bucks.
With nine finishes on the card, Daniil Donchenko and Abdul-Rakhman Yakhyaev picked up the remaining Performance of the Night bonuses at UFC Baku. Donchenko put away newcomer Theodor Berggren with a head kick and a few follow-up blows; Yakhyaev took just eight seconds to knock out Julius Walker.
The remaining five finishers on the card earned $25,000 in bonus money for their own stoppages. Those were Tahir Abdullayev, Kaan Ofli, Nursulton Ruziboev, Abusupiyan Magomedov, and Matheus Camilo.