Cooper Albers breaks down his DraftKings Pick6 selections for UFC Fight Night: Fiziev vs. Torres in Baku, Azerbaijan.
The UFC returns to Baku on Saturday night for a Fight Night card headlined by a lightweight bout between Azerbaijan’s own Rafael Fiziev and Mexico’s Manuel Torres.
Torres is a slight -112 favorite on DraftKings Sportsbook. Fiziev sits at -108 on the moneyline, with the total set at O/U 1.5 Rounds.
Along with traditional sports betting and daily fantasy, you can now have more action than ever for UFC Fight Night: Fiziev vs. Torres. Check out DraftKings UFC Pick6 for my favorite picks for Saturday’s UFC event.
The last few years haven’t been kind to Rafael Fiziev (13–5, 7–5 UFC), who has collected only one win in his last five trips to the Octagon. But that hasn’t stopped him from putting on a show. Stacked up against some of the toughest lightweights in the world — including a pair of clashes with newly-crowned champion Justin Gaethje — “Ataman” landed more than 39.5 significant strikes in three bouts during that stretch.
Fiziev has crushed that total in eight of his 12 UFC bouts. And despite his recent form, the battle-tested veteran represents a notable step up in competition for rising Mexican contender Manuel Torres (17–3, 5–1 UFC), whose sole Octagon loss — Ignacio Bahamondes — was Fiziev’s latest win, which fittingly came in Azerbaijan. Back in his backyard of Baku, we should see more fireworks from one of the most dazzling acts at 155 pounds.
Shara “Bullet” Magomedov (16–1, 5–1 UFC) lives up to his nickname — fast, precise, and powerful. The Russian kickboxer has notched 12 knockouts in 16 pro wins, and he’s coming off a bounce-back performance against Marc-Andre Barriault last July. He spent his time away from the cage sharpening his grappling prowess against the likes of Arman Tsarukyan and Edson Barboza, which should help him keep things standing against Brazilian middleweight Michel Pereira (32–14, 10–5 UFC).
Magomedov enters Saturday night with a chance to prove that he’s learned from his lone professional loss against similarly unorthodox striker Michael “Venom” Page. Only this time, he faces a much less avoidant — and far more outlandish — opponent in Pereira, who has dropped three of his last four bouts, twice by knockout or TKO.
While Brazilian lightweight Matheus Camilo (10–3, 1–1 UFC) bounced back from a disappointing UFC debut, it’s evident that the BJJ specialist is vulnerable to scrambles and reversals. In his first trip to the Octagon against Gabe Green, Camilo surrendered 2:12 control time — despite being the only fighter to land a takedown (2) — before ultimately succumbing to a rear-naked choke (RNC) in the second round.
Azerbaijan’s Nazim Sadykhov (11–2–1, 4–1–1 UFC) isn’t necessarily known for his grappling prowess, but he can certainly capitalize. The freestyle fighter has twice recorded north of 3:30 control time in the UFC, and his edge in Octagon experience should provide a runway to countering his opponent’s surefire takedown attempts.
Someone’s getting stopped in this one, which means a plethora of fantasy points are up for grabs. Russian sambo specialist Ikram Aliskerov (17–2, 4–1 UFC) and Brazilian judo tactician Brunno Ferreira (15–3, 6–3 UFC) don’t concern themselves with the opinions of judges. They head into Saturday night with a collective 81% finish rate across 32 professional victories, including 16 knockouts and 10 submissions. Conversely, all five of their combined losses have come by stoppage in some form or another.
In a battle that seems bound to end inside the distance, the scale tips toward Aliskerov to get the job done. He wields surgically precise striking and scholarly fight IQ, and he’s only ever stumbled against 185-pound royalty: Khamzat Chimaev at Brave CF in April 2019 and Robert Whittaker in June 2024. On the other side, Ferreira is coming off a brutal knockout loss to Gregory Rodrigues in March — getting starched in under two minutes.
Dubbed “The Lion,” Azerbaijani prospect Farman Hasanov (5–0, 0–0 UFC) doesn’t play with his food. A Master of Sport in freestyle wrestling, he heads into his UFC debut on the heels of a first-round mauling of Abdurakhman Fazilov last November in LFA.
Hasanov will make his first trip to the Octagon in his hometown against Eric Nolan (8–4, 0–1 UFC). While the United States Marine Corps veteran wields one-shot power, he struggled mightily in his UFC debut last August against Baisangur Susurkaev. There, Nolan was taken down twice for 3:19 control time before tapping out to a second-round RNC.
Undefeated Russian prospect Abdul-Rakhman Yakhyaev (9–0, 2–0 UFC) is extremely economical with his significant-strike count. “Hunter” owns an 89% finish rate with seven first-round stoppages. Including his lone appearance on Dana White’s Contender Series, he’s fallen below 16.5 significant strikes in three-straight bouts under the watch of the UFC head honcho.
Still, that total is an egregiously low bar as Yakhyaev continues to climb the light heavyweight ladder. He’ll likely need to up his production on Saturday against American Julius Walker (7–2, 1–2 UFC), who — despite struggling so far inside the Octagon — has a strong grappling background and a serviceable chin. While Walker is coming off his first career knockout loss, it took stoppage artist Dustin Jacoby (15 career KOs in 22 wins) 42 significant strikes to finish the job.
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