UFC Fight Night: Fiziev vs Torres takes place Saturday, June 27, at the National Gymnastics Arena in Baku, Azerbaijan. Prelims at 9 AM ET, main card at noon on Paramount+. Here is everything you need to know before you tune in, plus the grappling angles worth watching.
Reviewed by BJJ Gyms · Updated 2026-07-27
Event details per UFC.com and ESPN event listing, June 2026.
Rafael Fiziev, born in Kazakhstan and representing Azerbaijan, returns to Baku where he has fought before and where the crowd will be firmly behind him. Fiziev is regarded as the more technically complete fighter in this matchup. He has a broader and more consistent offensive toolkit, better ring generalship, and more experience against elite competition, including a previous bout against Justin Gaethje, who just became the UFC lightweight champion at Freedom 250.
Manuel Torres is the power puncher in this equation. He has stopped opponents in back-to-back first rounds heading into this fight and carries significant finishing threat whenever he is able to close distance. The matchup sets up as technique and range management against pressure and power, which is a dynamic that plays out on the mat as much as it does on the feet. If Torres shoots takedowns or drags Fiziev to the fence, his path opens. If Fiziev keeps the fight in the middle of the octagon at his preferred range, his technical advantage grows.
Shara Magomedov and Michel Pereira are two of the most crowd-pleasing fighters in the middleweight division, and not because they fight a conventional game. Both fighters use unorthodox striking angles, unpredictable movement, and creative offensive entries that make them difficult to game-plan for. Putting them together creates a matchup where the normal rhythms of range fighting may not apply.
For BJJ students, co-main events like this are worth watching specifically for what happens when the striking gets chaotic and fighters look for ways to change the level of the fight. The transitions from stand-up into clinch work and from clinch into the takedown or submission attempt are often where the grappling fundamentals you work in class appear most clearly.
The main card also features Ikram Aliskerov vs Brunno Ferreira in a middleweight bout that puts a powerful striker against a grappling-influenced opponent, a format where the question of takedown defense and ground transitions is central. Asu Almabayev vs Charles Johnson in the flyweight division is worth watching because flyweight consistently produces one of the highest submission rates in the UFC.
The prelims open at 9 AM ET. Matheus Camilo vs Nazim Sadykhov (lightweight) and Abus Magomedov vs Michal Oleksiejczuk (middleweight) round out the main card.
Two weeks after UFC Freedom 250 produced seven finishes from seven fights, UFC Baku gives grapplers another complete card to study. The lightweight and middleweight matchups on this card are built around fighters who control pace and create openings, which is exactly what BJJ students practice in every round of sparring.
Watching how Fiziev manages distance, how Torres enters to close range, how Pereira responds when struck off-rhythm, and how Aliskerov handles a grappling-focused opponent, these are all lessons that translate directly to the mat. The best way to understand what you are watching is to try it yourself. Find a BJJ gym near you and try a free class.
Before you tune in, here are the five matchup dynamics and story lines worth tracking at UFC Fight Night: Fiziev vs Torres.
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Saturday, June 27, 2026. Prelims begin at 9 AM ET and the main card starts at 12 PM ET. The entire event streams on Paramount+ in the United States.
The National Gymnastics Arena in Baku, Azerbaijan. Rafael Fiziev, who represents Azerbaijan, is fighting in front of a local crowd, which adds to his home-atmosphere advantage.
Fiziev is generally regarded as the more complete technical fighter. Torres brings significant power and has finished his last two opponents in the first round. The matchup is closer than Fiziev's technical edge might suggest because Torres only needs one clean shot to change the fight.
The clinch work, takedown attempts, cage control, and ground scrambles you see in UFC bouts are the same movements you drill in BJJ class, just at elite speed and intensity. Watching how high-level fighters manage distance, control positions, and look for submissions builds a frame of reference that makes your own training more meaningful. The best next step is trying a class yourself.