Fiziev started the bout with aggression, landing heavy kicks and a nice right hand in the opening exchange. Torres didn’t waste long in swinging back, but Fiziev kept his guard high and avoided the punches. A minute into the fight, Fiziev ducked a punch and ran his legs to score brief takedown. Torres popped back up, and Fiziev attacked the calf. Torres continued to swing and landed a nice right hand counter of his own.
Halfway through the round, the pace settled to a more reasonable level. Torres landed a glancing knee and built combinations, landing some kicks of his own. Fiziev caught a kick and swept his foe to the floor brilliantly, but Torres used a leg lock attempt to quickly regain his footing. In the closing seconds of the first, Torres landed a couple hard blows that definitely caught Fiziev’s attention.
“El Loco” then entered the second round for the first time in his UFC career.
Fiziev opened with a wild spin kick and immediately floored Torres! He jumped on the Mexican fighter, putting his back to the fence with a flurry of powerful hooks. A few got through the guard and sent Torres to the canvas, securing “Ataman” the sudden knockout win.
Rafael Fiziev badly needed this win, and he fought really well against a truly dangerous opponent! He really improved upon his recent performance versus Mauricio Ruffy, using his pressure to throw hard shots. He didn’t just wait, and his offense allowed him to force Torres into a more technical fight and reasonable level of activity.
It wasn’t easy, but Fiziev got the job done and thrilled the Azerbaijani crowd in the process.
