A lightweight fight between Rafael Fiziev and Manuel Torres will headline UFC Fight Night 280 in Baku, Azerbaijan on June 27th.
The 33-year-old Fiziev’s father is from Azerbaijan and that’s the country the fighter claims as his nationality, though he was originally born in Kazakhstan.
The muay thai striker was at one stage on a six-fight winning streak in the 155lb division, but he’s hit upon harder times since, with four losses in his last five appearances, during which time he also suffered an ACL injury that required surgery.
His defeats during that period came against some of the division’s best fighters, including Justin Gaethje (x2), Mateusz Gamrot and most recently Mauricio Ruffy, leaving him sliding to No.11 in the rankings.
Next up Fiziev will be fighting the 31-year-old Torres, who is 5-1 in the Octagon so far.
That includes Torres latest two wins last year, which saw him TKO Drew Dober in under two minutes, followed by another 1st round TKO finish against Grant Dawson, taking him to No.14 on the rankings.
Fiziev vs. Torres fronts a UFC FIght Night 280 event which will mark the promotion’s 2nd visit to Baku, with other fights currently booked for the show including Michal Oleksiejczuk vs. Abus Magomedov, Shara Magomedov vs. Michel Pereira and Asu Almabayev vs. Charles Johnson.
