UFC Baku Delivers Awesome Prelims to Close out June!

UFC Baku fight week is in full swing. Saturday morning (USA time,) the No. 1 MMA promotion in the world makes its second stop in Azerbajian in as many years after heading to Baku on the first day of summer in 2025.

Just like last year's edition of UFC Baku, this year's event in the Azerbajian city emanates from Baku Crystal Hall. Live coverage of the card begins at an earlier start time of 9 am ET/ 6 am PT with the prelims. Stateside, UFC Baku can be seen in its entirety over the Paramount Plus streaming service.

Main card action caps the afternoon at 12 noon ET/ 9 am PT on Paramount Plus. If there are no adjustments to be made to this weekend's schedule, the final version of UFC Baku will feature a slate of 13 fights inside the fabled Octagon.

UFC Baku Featured Prelim: Farman Hasanov vs. Eric Nolan: Hasanov Making UFC Debut Saturday

At the top of the undercard on Saturday morning, the welterweights take to the cage as Farman Hasanov (5-0 MMA, UFC promotional debut) makes his first walk to the Octagon against Eric Nolan (8-4 MMA, 0-1 UFC.) All fights mentioned herein are an advertised maximum of three rounds at five minutes per round.

Hasanov has yet to lose as a professional fighter heading into UFC Baku's featured prelim on Saturday. He'll make his UFC debut in front of his fellow countrymen and look to build off of a first-round TKO victory by way of doctor's stoppage on Nov. 21 after his opponent Abdurakhman Fazilov (6-1 MMA) was deemed unfit to continue.

Numerically speaking, Farman Hasanov is a man who's won four of his previous five fights inside the distance. Hasanov turned pro nearly four years ago, so can he make a fantastic first impression in the UFC?

Eric Nolan Hoping for Better Outcome in UFC Baku Saturday

Meanwhile, Eric Nolan touches down in Azerbajian for fight week having posted a mark of 4-1 in his last five outings. He's looking to have a much better night this Saturday than the one he had last August in Chicago. That night, he was on the receiving end of a second-round submission by way of rear-naked choke from Baisangur Susurkaev (12-0 MMA, 3-0 UFC) in the latter's UFC debut.

Susurkaev took the fight in the immediate aftermath of winning his UFC deal on Contender Series the previous Tuesday at Meta Apex in Enterprise, NV. Nolan was already supposed to have fought earlier this year, but a planned bout on Feb. 7 versus Jose Souza was scrubbed after he withdrew from the event in Enterprise due to injury.

With a clean bill of health now afforded to Eric Nolan, can he make the smiles of the crowd in Baku disappear before the main card begins? Only time will tell.

UFC Baku Co-Featured Prelim: Abdul Rakhman Yakhyaev vs. Julius Walker: "The Hunter" Stalks 10th Professional Win

Immediately prior to the featured prelim, the co-featured undercard bout takes place at 205 lbs. Abdul-Rakhman Yakhyaev (9-0 MMA, 2-0 UFC) makes his 10th walk as a professional against Julius Walker (7-2 MMA, 1-2 UFC.)

Yakhyaev is currently unbeaten as a professional competitor heading into Saturday's Azerbajian show and is facing a short turnaround for this co-featured prelim. He last fought the night of April 4 in Vegas, securing a first-round submission victory by way of rear-naked choke against Brendson Ribeiro (17-10, 1 NC MMA, 2-5 UFC.) By the time Saturday's fight begins, just 84 days will have passed between contests.

First-round stoppages are old hat for Yakhyaev at this point. His last five wins have been recorded before the horn to end the opening round of action has blared. Can he make it six in a row inside the first round?

Julius Walker Looking to Rebound in UFC Baku Co-Featured Prelim

Across the way, Julius Walker enters this weekend's bout having gone 3-2 in his last five contests dating back to November of 2024. On Feb. 7, he lost by way of second-round knockout (punches) against Dustin Jacoby (22-9-1 MMA, 10-6-1 UFC) in Dan Miragliotta's 500th UFC fight as referee.

Since joining the UFC's active roster, he's sustained two defeats. Only time will tell if Walker's able to get back to a .500 record in the promotion.

UFC Baku: Nursulton Ruzibov vs. Andre Pulyaev: Ruziboev Aiming to Continue Winning Streak in First Fight After Year-Plus Hiatus

Also on the UFC Baku undercard on Saturday, the middleweights go to battle for a contest matching Nursulton Ruziboev (36-9-2, 2 NC MMA, 4-1 UFC) against Andre Pulyaev (10-4 MMA, 1-2 UFC.) Ruziboev enters UFC Baku after over a year out of action with a 4-1 record since joining the promotion.

Currently, he's on a two-fight winning streak. More than 13 months ago, he scored a unanimous decision victory over Dustin Stolzfus (16-8 MMA, 3-7 UFC) at the then-UFC Apex. 

After the triumph against Stolzfus in May of 2025, Ruziboev was slated to return last August in Chicago at UFC 319 versus Bryan Battle. That fight would wind up canceled in the wake of the latter fighter missing weight at the official weigh-ins the day before the bout.

Ruziboev went through an entire fight camp last summer only for the fight to be postponed on the eve of the show through no fault of his own. Expect him to fight with frustration in Baku on Saturday.

Pulyaev Looking to Get Back to Win Column in Second Bout of 2026

In the other corner, Andrey Pulyaev is sporting a 3-2 record in his last five outings. Most recently, he dropped a unanimous decision at the hands of Ateba Gautier (11-1 MMA, 5-0 UFC) on Jan. 24 during UFC 324 inside T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

It's been five months since Pulyaev last fought. One final question remains:

Will he score his first victory of the year on Saturday? Tune in and find out.

Rest of the Prelims

UFC Baku's undercard is rounded out by the following contests:

• A featherweight contest between Kaan Ofli (13-4-1 MMA, 2-2 UFC) and Javier Reyes (23-5 MMA, 1-0 UFC,)
• a welterweight match versing Danil Donchenko (14-2 MMA, 2-0 UFC) with Theodor Berggren (8-3 MMA, UFC promotional debut,)
• a bantamweight encounter pairing Bekzat Almakhan (12-3 MMA, 1-2 UFC) against Jean Matsumoto (17-2 MMA, 3-2 UFC,)
• and a welterweight showcase matching Tahir Abdullaev (21-3 MMA, UFC promotional debut) with Jefferson Nascimento (13-0 MMA, UFC promotional debut.)