Half-blind Fiziev stuns Torres with spinning wheel kick to headline UFC Baku

Rafael Fiziev delivered one of the most remarkable finishes of his career at UFC Baku on Saturday — and he did it barely able to see straight. “Ataman” dropped Manuel Torres with a spinning wheel kick before swarming him with punches just 15 seconds into Round 2 of their lightweight headliner at the National Gymnastics Arena in Baku, Azerbaijan.

Fiziev revealed afterwards that a jab from Torres had severely impaired his vision heading into the second round. “Beginning of the second round, I didn’t see anything. I opened my two eyes, I didn’t see anything, like everything double,” he said in a post-fight interview with the UFC. “I think, OK, I’m just throwing spinning back kick because I don’t need the eye to see that, and I throw it like, ‘Oh, man.’” He added that closing his left eye restored partial vision, but the double vision persisted when both eyes were open.

The win was a significant one for Fiziev, who had lost four of his previous five Octagon appearances, including a second-round TKO defeat to Mauricio Ruffy at UFC 325 in January. “After this loss in Australia, come back like that, I feel good, I feel great,” he said. “Zero pressure, zero pressure.”

Fiziev also noted the personal weight of the performance. “It’s a very special win in my career, because it’s a black line — last five fights, four lost, and only two bonuses in all of these five losses. And now it’s the third one, so I’m happy.”

Looking ahead, Fiziev expressed interest in challenging for the BMF title, currently held by Charles Oliveira. The two were originally scheduled to meet last October at UFC Rio before Fiziev was forced to withdraw through injury. “I want to fight BMF maybe, because we already have some story with Charles, and I can’t get it last time,” he said. “But if not, I don’t care.”