On June 21, the UFC tournament will be held in Baku for the first time in Azerbaijan, where Jamal Hill and Khalil Rountree, two of the leading athletes in the welterweight division, will face each other in the main fight of the night.
Before that, there will be an interesting meeting between lightweights Rafael Fiziev and Ignacio Bahamondes, Idman.biz reports.
Russian website "Sport24" reports in its article that the upcoming fight will be Fiziev's 11th in the UFC. 32-year-old Azerbaijani is currently experiencing the most difficult period of his career: he has lost his last three fights. These failures occurred from March 2023 to March 2025: Fiziev lost twice to Justin Gaetje by decision of the judges and to Mateusz Gamroth due to a serious injury. He returned two months ago after two years of treatment after tearing knee ligaments. He had a rematch with Gaetji, and the American proved for the second time that he is stronger than the Azerbaijani.
However, until the spring of 2023 - when he lost to Gaetji for the first time, Fiziev had won six consecutive victories and was ranked 6th in the lightweight rankings. Now, after all the setbacks, the Azerbaijani fighter has fallen to 11th place. But at one time he was considered one of the brightest contenders for the title in the division. Moreover, there was also a story about Fiziev's unusual arrival in the UFC. In 2019, Rafael got his first chance to fight in the league thanks to a video of him skillfully dodging an excellent blow from his then opponent, which went viral on social networks. Thanks to this video, which impressed UFC President Dana White, the Azerbaijani was even called the "fighter from the Matrix".
Fiziev's new opponent will be 27-year-old Chilean Ignacio Bahamondes. He has eight fights and six wins in the league. Bahamondes currently has a three-fight winning streak and is considered a rising star in the league. He has five early wins and joined the league in 2022 thanks to the "Dana White Contenders Series". In March 2025, Bahamondes already defeated Callin Turner in the first round, and now he has a chance to get closer to the top 10 in the lightweight division.
The upcoming fight is of great importance for both opponents. If Fiziyev wins, he will end a three-fight losing streak, which will positively affect his UFC prospects, which are currently not considered high. Bahamondes, on the other hand, has a chance not only to break into the top 11, but also to get a chance to fight one of the stars of the league.
Idman.biz
