UFC Fight Night Baku Recap
Quick 2-3 Minute Read
UFC Fight Night Baku Recap:
This fight card was honestly a 2/5, and with it ending around 2:30 AM local time in Azerbaijan, I genuinely feel bad for the crowd in attendance. The arena looked hot as hell, the fights were mostly forgettable, and Jon Jones retired. Yeah, a lot went down so let’s dive into the winners and losers.
Winners:
Nazim Sadykhov
Nazim walked away with $100K in bonuses, and rightfully so. Round 1 of Sadykhov vs. Nikolas Motta could easily be a Round of the Year nominee, total chaos. Then Nazim sealed the deal with a second round finish. Best fight of the night by far. Great scrap, great performance.
Rafael Fiziev
Fiziev looked phenomenal, sharp, technical, and in full control. He pulled out matrix-level movement and made Ignacio Bahamondes look like he didn’t belong in there with him. Nothing but respect. That was elite.
Myktybek Orolbai
Holy hell, he nearly ripped Tofiq’s arm clean off. Tofiq, fighting in front of his home crowd, got absolutely steamrolled. Orolbai looked like a future contender, and I’m already hyped to see who they match him with next.
Losers:
Jamahal Hill & Khalil Rountree Jr.
This main event was painfully dull. Fans were literally leaving the arena before it ended, that’s how bad it was. Hill looked like he just discovered that leg kicks hurt, and Rountree was coasting round by round doing the bare minimum. Awful way to end the night.
Hamdy Abdelwahab
My buddy told me Usman was gonna win, but after that first round, I had serious doubts. Usman looked like he was bracing for impact every time he got touched. But Hamdy gassed hard and completely fell apart in Rounds 2 and 3. The blog told you to bet Usman, but still, Hamdy, how the hell do you lose to that version of Usman? Hahaha.
Curtis Blaydes
Beating an unranked guy by split decision? Yikes. I did not have “Blaydes falls off a cliff” on my 2025 bingo card. He says he got injured in Round 1, but even so, that performance was ugly. Honestly, he probably lost that fight, and this is coming from someone holding a Blaydes by Decision ticket. I still think Rizvan Kuniev got robbed.
Next Week:
We’ve got UFC 317 coming up, and I’m beyond hyped for this card. Keep an eye out for my full predictions, fight previews, and one best bet to cash us out. The best bet section is bouncing back, no doubt.
Let’s get this blog back in the win column.