UFC Baku Recap
For only the second time in UFC’s history, they returned to Baku, Azerbaijan and man did it perform.
There seemed to be a nonchalant feeling in the MMA community about this event even though some of these fights were BANGERS waiting to happen.
Daniil Donchenko: Lets start off with a guy that just knows how to put on entertaining fights. Donchenko has been known for a brawl-it-out style fight ever since appearing on TUF 33 and with his limited time in the UFC so far, hasn’t disappointed. Although the opponent changed and Berggren filled in, Donchenko left no doubt in securing the round 2 TKO in such a fashion that earned him POTN honors. If it wasn’t said before, he is someone to watch out for and a potential fan favorite once more eyes see him on the bigger cards.
Abdul Rakhman Yakhyaev: 8 seconds. It took 8 seconds and a crisp 2 to knockout Julius Walker and Yakhyaev continues to be one of the best light heavyweight prospects to make his mark. This registered as the 2nd fastest KO in LHW history and Yakyaev deserves to fight someone on the cusp of a ranked fight. I would love to see more from him, but with 3 fights and 3 finishes, how can anyone deny him?
Asu Almabayev: Did everyone just forget Almabayev is (now) 7-1 in the UFC and that only being loss to the soon-title challenger Manel Kape? Almabayev got the ultra-rare suloev stretch on Charles Johnson and reaffirms himself as a true threat in this flyweight division. For context, the suloev stretch is different from a banana split because it only forces pressure on the single leg in comparison to both which is the banana split. Regardless, Almabayev looked better than ever and I can see him making another run in this stacked flyweight division.
Rafael Fiziev: The man that was written off, labeled “washed” because he lost to the now undisputed champion in Gaethje twice, and because he ran into the storm that Mauricio Ruffy. Fiziev showed that there are just levels in MMA and proved it with a beautiful finish starting with his patented spinning wheel kick. Manuel Torres had glimpses of success, but was notably just a step behind a motivated Fiziev fighting at home. It is difficult to say what happens next for Fiziev as he has called out the BMF champ in Charles Oliveira, but one thing is sure - Ataman is BACK!
What was your favorite moment of UFC Baku and did you stay up to watch?
