Overview
- Rafael Fiziev scored a second-round knockout of Manuel Torres with a spinning wheel kick and follow-up punches at UFC Fight Night in Baku on June 27, ending the fight 15 seconds into round two.
- Fiziev said a jab to his eye left his vision blurred between rounds, which led him to throw the spinning kick because he could not rely on normal sight when he finished Torres.
- After the win Fiziev publicly pushed for a BMF title fight with Charles Oliveira and referenced a canceled matchup with Oliveira from last year as unfinished business.
- Fiziev slammed the UFC’s newly introduced Meta/AI rankings after the fight, noting he had been omitted from the list and saying the system was flawed.
- The KO earned Fiziev a $100,000 performance bonus, reset his status after a 1-4 stretch in five fights, and has prompted immediate matchmaking talk about ranked rematches and higher-profile lightweight tests.