Torres eyes lightweight shake-up after Gaethje's stunning upset of Topuria opens division

Manuel Torres arrives at his first UFC main event convinced the lightweight landscape has shifted in his favour, following Justin Gaethje’s fourth-round corner-stoppage TKO of Ilia Topuria at UFC White House earlier this month.

Torres faces Rafael Fiziev in Baku on Saturday in what he describes as a dream-come-true moment — and the 31-year-old admits Gaethje’s victory, which made the American the undisputed UFC lightweight champion for the first time, has only added to his optimism.

“It was surprising because if you think about it, they went to four rounds, he couldn’t do it,” Torres told MMA Fighting via an interpreter. “He couldn’t get it done against Gaethje. He had four rounds that he was trying, he was actually giving his best. Big shots he was trying to land, hitting him once in a while, but it wasn’t putting him down. At one point, you saw the body shots and the liver shots, but he couldn’t finish it, and at the end, Justin just proved to be stronger.”

Topuria entered the fight as a massive favourite, with widespread expectation that a successful defence would have set “El Matador” on course for a run at the welterweight title held by Islam Makhachev. Torres concedes the result surprised him, but says he was quietly backing Gaethje all along.

“I think that now, this makes the division flow more,” Torres said. “It will give opportunity to other fighters. I was surprised, but I was kind of going for Justin on that one. It went well for me at the end of the day.”

Fiziev enters Saturday’s headliner needing a turnaround after being stopped by Mauricio Ruffy at UFC 325 in January — a result that extended a run of four losses in his past five bouts, including two decision defeats to Gaethje himself. Torres is under no illusions about the threat his opponent poses, but says the magnitude of the occasion has only sharpened his focus.

“A dream come true,” Torres said of headlining a UFC card. “That means that the work has paid off, that what I’ve done has enabled me to actually get this opportunity. I’m happy that what I’ve done has led me to this: the opportunity to be in a main event and, God willing, I hope everything goes well this Saturday.”

A win in Baku would push Torres further up the lightweight rankings and, with a newly crowned champion in Gaethje, into a division that suddenly looks more open than it has in years.