“Baku has long deserved to host UFC events.”
These are the words of UFC champion Islam Makhachev, who shared his thoughts in an interview with Haqqin.az, Idman.biz reports.
Widely regarded as the top pound-for-pound fighter in the UFC, the Russian athlete was recently spotted among the spectators at the Judo World Championships in Budapest.
Makhachev announced he will soon arrive in Azerbaijan for the upcoming UFC event on June 21:
“I’ll be in Baku on June 19. Khabib Nurmagomedov and I will be there to support our teammate Tagir Ulanbekov. We hope he wins his fight.”
The lightweight star expressed excitement about UFC coming to Baku:
“I’m very happy that a UFC event will be held in Baku. The city is beautiful and well-suited to host such tournaments. Baku has long deserved UFC events, including numbered cards. I hope one day we’ll see a numbered UFC event in the Azerbaijani capital — that would make it even easier for us to come and fight there.”
For now, Baku is set to host an interim UFC event, UFC Fight Night. The main difference between Fight Night and numbered events lies in their scale and significance. Numbered cards are UFC’s headline shows, featuring top-ranked fighters and champions across various weight classes, and typically take place once a month. Fight Nights, on the other hand, are smaller-scale events held between the main cards.
Islam Makhachev’s last bout was in January of this year, where he defeated Brazilian fighter Renato Moicano. The Dagestani fighter boasts a record of 27 wins (16 in UFC) and just 1 loss, which came back in 2015. Recently, he vacated his lightweight title to move up to the welterweight division (77 kg).
Idman.biz
