UFC Baku’s Exciting Main Card Saturday Night

All told, barring any 11th-hour adjustments to the card, the final version of Saturday’s show features a schedule of 12 fights from MMA’s No. 1 promotion in the world.

UFC Baku Main Event: No. 4 Contender Jamahal Hill vs. No. 7 Contender Khalil Rountree Jr.

At the top of the bill on UFC Baku this Saturday night, you’ll be watching a light heavyweight main event between two top-10 contenders at 205 lbs. No. 4 contender Jamahal Hill (12-3, 1 NC MMA, 6-3, 1 NC UFC) will lock horns with No. 7 contender Khalil Rountree Jr. (13-6, 1 NC MMA, 9-6, 1 NC UFC.) This is a five-round fight at five minutes per round to close the show.

This UFC Baku main event is a rebooking of a canceled fight from UFC Kansas City a couple of months ago due to Jamahal Hill withdrawing from the contest. Hill will be making the walk this weekend after having posted a record of 3-2 in his last five appearances.

He’s currently reeling from a two-fight losing streak. Back in January, he sustained a third-round TKO defeat (ground and pound shots) to Jiri Prochazka (31-5-1 MMA, 5-2 UFC) during UFC 311 from Intuit Dome.

Jamahal Hill comes into UFC Baku’s main event with one simple mission: Score the victory.

“Right now, my only assignment is to go there and defeat Rountree,” Hill said recently. “I want to go and express myself and I believe everything else will follow accordingly. I feel like I’ve had a pretty good build-up to the fight and I want to dominate.”

The UFC Baku main event is a crucial one for Jamahal Hill given that he’s on the doorstep of fighting for the championship, but he’s got to take things moment by moment. He can’t look too far ahead.

Meanwhile, Khali Rountree Jr. enters this main attraction sporting a mark of 4-1 in his last five fights. Like Jamahal Hill, he also enters this week’s fight having sustained a defeat in his most-recent fight, losing by fourth-round knockout (uppercuts) to Alex Pereira (12-3 MMA, 9-2 UFC) in UFC 307 last October in a fight for the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship.

Pereira has since lost the division’s championship to Magomed Ankalaev. Expect Khalil Rountree Jr. to fight with frustration when the cage door slams shut on Saturday night. With a victory in UFC Baku, he’ll find himself back in the mix for the title picture.

UFC Baku Co-Main Event: No. 11 Contender Rafael Fiziev vs. Ignacio Bahamondes

Immediately beforehand, the lightweights take to the famed Octagon for the UFC Baku co-main event between No. 11 contender Rafael Fiziev (12-4 MMA, 6-4 UFC) and Ignacio Bahamondes (17-5 MMA, 6-2 UFC.) This is a three-round fight at five minutes per round.

Fiziev will be touching down in Azerbaijan with a 2-3 record in his last five fights, but he’s been a streaky fighter of late. Heading into UFC Baku, he’s dropped three fights in succession.

Back on March 8, he sustained a unanimous decision loss to Justin Gaethje (26-5 MMA, 9-5 UFC) during UFC 313 on pay-per-view from Las Vegas and T-Mobile Arena. Fiziev hasn’t had a sustained winning streak inside the Octagon since he won six in a row between October of 2019 and July of 2022.

He’s had a tough run of late, and unfortunately for the Fiziev camp, it won’t get easier this weekend.

Across the way, Bahamondes has gone 3-2 over the course of his last five fights. Currently, he’s won three in a row and also fought on March 8 in UFC 313. That night, he stopped Jalin Turner (14-9 MMA, 7-6 UFC) with a first-round submission by way of triangle choke.

As we’ve mentioned before, a fighter is at his most dangerous when he’s on a hot streak. If Bahamondes racks up his fourth win in a row, he’ll be on the fast track to a ranking in the lightweight division.

UFC Baku: No. 5 Contender Curtis Blaydes vs. Rizvan Kuniev

Also on the UFC Baku main card, the big boys will play in a heavyweight contest matching No. 5 contender Curtis Blaydes (18-5, 1 NC MMA, 13-5, 1 NC UFC) with Rizvan Kuniev (13-2-1, 1 NC MMA, UFC promotional debut.) This is the third time that this fight has been scheduled to take place in 2025.

A planned booking in February was postponed due to being rescheduled for March 8. Prior to the second booking, the fight was scrubbed again after Blaydes took ill (norovirus) in the final hours before UFC 313.

Blaydes will be making his 2025 debut with a record of 3-2 in his last five fights. Most recently, he was on the receiving end of a first-round knockout from Tom Aspinall (15-3 MMA, 8-1 UFC) for the UFC Interim Heavyweight Championship in UFC 304’s co-main event.

With a clean bill of health for “Razor”, can he return to the win column this weekend?

In the other corner, Rizvan Kuniev will make his UFC debut in UFC Baku on Saturday having posted a mark of 4-0 with one no-contest in his last five fights. He’s on a 12-fight unbeaten streak and secured his UFC promotional contract with a first-round knockout (knee to the body followed by ground and pound) with one second left on the clock.

The former Eagle FC Heavyweight Champion has waited 10 months to make his UFC debut, with the stakes being higher for the third booking of this match as he’s facing the No. 5-ranked Blaydes on network television. How will he handle the pressure?

Final Thoughts

Which main card fight or fights are you looking forward to on UFC Baku?