UFC Tonight: What Time Does The UFC Baku Fight Card Start?

The UFC is back in Baku, Azerbaijan, for the second time in the promotion’s history for today’s fight card. The event, which takes place on Saturday, June 27 at National Gymnastics Arena, is headlined by an important lightweight scrap. In that contest, Rafael Fiziev looks to stop his fall down the 155-pound rankings against the climbing Manuel Torres. Here is everything you need to know to watch or stream today’s UFC Baku fight card, which has an early start time in North America.

UFC Baku Fight Card: Date

Saturday, June 27, 2026

UFC Baku Fight Card: Location

National Gymnastics Arena in Baku, Azerbaijan

UFC Baku Fight Card: Start Time

Preliminary Card: 9:00 a.m. ET

Main Card: 12:00 p.m. ET

UFC Baku Fight Card: How To Watch Or Stream

Paramount+

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UFC Baku Fight Card

UFC Baku Main Card

Rafael Fiziev vs. Manuel Torres
Sharabutdin Magomedov vs. Michel Pereira
Nazim Sadykhov vs. Matheus Camilo
Asu Almabayev vs. Charles Johnson
Ikram Aliskerov vs. Brunno Ferreira
Abusupiyan Magomedov vs. Michał Oleksiejczuk

UFC Baku Preliminary Card

Farman Hasanov vs. Eric Nolan
Abdul-Rakhman Yakhyaev vs. Julius Walker
Nursulton Ruziboev vs. Andrey Pulyaev
Kaan Ofli vs. Javier Reyes
Daniil Donchenko vs. Theodor Berggren
Bekzat Almakhan vs. Jean Matsumoto
Tahir Abdullayev vs. Jefferson Nascimento

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UFC Baku Main Event: Rafael Fiziev vs. Manuel Torres

Rafael Fiziev (13-5) joined the UFC in 2019. At the time he had a 6-0 record with six stoppages (five knockouts and one submission), with all but one of those fights ending in the first round. Fiziev’s UFC debut ended 86 seconds into the first round when he caught a spinning back kick from Magomed Mustafaev, who had not fought for more than two years.

Fiziev bounced back from his first career loss by going on a six-fight unbeaten streak. He climbed the rankings during that run, which began with an October 2019 decision win over Alex White and ended with a July 2022 knockout win over former UFC lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos. Fiziev picked up five fight-night bonuses during that stretch.

With his impressive run, Fiziev earned the No. 6 spot in the official UFC rankings. His reward was a matchup against Gaethje in the co-main event of UFC 286. Fiziev entered that bout as a -230 betting favorite over the +195 Gaethje.

The two put on a striking battle over three rounds in front of an appreciative crowd in London that evening. In the end, Gaethje earned the majority decision win. In his next outing, Fiziev faced Mateusz Gamrot in a UFC Fight Night main event. That contest ended abruptly in the second round when Gamrot scored a TKO win after Fiziev planted his leg to throw a kick and dropped to the canvas.

Fiziev did not return to the cage until UFC 313 in March 2025. He was matched against Justin Gaethje on that pay-per-view card. The bout took home Fight of the Night honors, with Gaethje winning via unanimous decision (29-28 x 3).

In his nest outing, Fiziev got back in the win column, beating Ignacio Bahamondes by decision in June 2025 in Baku. Fiziev’s most recent fight was a February TKO loss to Mauricio Ruffy.

With his 1-4 record dating back to March 2023, Fiziev is no longer in the UFC lightweight rankings.

Manuel Torres (17-3) has been fighting under the UFC banner since he won a contract on an October 2021 episode of Dana White’s Contender Series, scoring a first-round knockout of Kolton Englund.

Torres has fought six times since then, accumulating a 5-1 record and five “Performance of the Night” bonuses for his efforts. His total UFC fight time in those six bouts is 15 minutes and 15 seconds. He has not left the first round in any of his UFC contests. In fact, only one of his 20 professional bouts has gone past 4:02 of the first stanza. His split 2018 split decision win over Enrique González is Torres’s only fight to leave the first round. His longest fight was his September 2024 TKO setback to Ignacio Bahamondes at UFC 306.

Torres, who is the No. 13 ranked UFC lightweight, is coming off a December 2025 knockout win over Grant Dawson at UFC 323.

We will have more on UFC Baku on fight day.

This article was originally published on Forbes.com