UFC Baku fight week is here. Saturday afternoon (USA time), a little more than 12 hours after the summer season officially begins in the Northern Hemisphere, Dana White’s promotion kicks off its summer schedule with a first-time visit.
This week, seven days removed from UFC Atlanta, the promotion makes its first trip to the country of Azerbaijan and its capital city of Baku for a rare daytime edition of UFC Fight Night. The matinee known as UFC Baka kicks off at just past 12 noon ET/ 9 am PT.
Inside the United States of America, UFC Baku’s prelims can be seen on ESPN2 and ESPN+. Main card action follows at 3 pm ET/ noon PT on ESPN+ and your local ABC affiliate. All told, barring any adjustments to the card, the final version of Saturday’s show features a slate of 12 fights from the MMA leader.

The main card of UFC Baku will be topped by a contest in the light heavyweight ranks matching No. 4 contender Jamahal Hill (12-3 MMA, 6-3 UFC) with No. 7 contender Khalil Rountree Jr. (13-6, 1 NC MMA, 9-6, 1 NC UFC.) More on the main card later on this week.
UFC Baku Featured Prelim: Seok Hyeon Ko vs. Oban Elliott
At the top of the bill for the UFC Baku undercard is a welterweight fixture between Seok Hyeon Ko (11-2 MMA, UFC promotional debut) and Oban Elliott (12-2 MMA, 3-0 UFC). Ko was supposed to have made his first walk to the Octagon a few weeks ago.
His intended May 31 debut versus Billy Ray Goff at the UFC Apex facility in Enterprise, NV was scrubbed prior to the card taking place as he could not secure a visa in time to travel to the United States of America for the show.
Seok Hyeon Ko enters UFC Baku on Saturday night having posted a record of 4-1 over the course of his last five fights. Right after Labor Day last September, he secured his UFC promotional contract by way of unanimous decision after 15 minutes of action against Igor Cavalcanti (11-1 MMA) on Contender Series.
He’s had to wait a long time to make his promotional debut and the wait has been extended by three weeks ahead of Saturday’s featured undercard bout. Will his UFC debut be a successful one?
Across the way, Oban Elliott was also initially scheduled to fight on May 31 in Enterprise, NV at the UFC Apex facility until his contest vs. Ramiz Brahimaj was postponed prior to fight week for the same reason that Ko’s fight against Goff was called off. He’ll come into Baku sporting a record of 5-0 as part of an ongoing six-fight winning streak dating back to his stint in Cage Warriors.
The 2023 graduate of Dana White’s Contender Series last set foot in the Octagon in mid-November at Madison Square Garden in New York City, besting Bassil Hafez (9-5-1 MMA, 1-2 UFC) with a third-round knockout during UFC 309 on the undercard. He was awarded the $50,000 (USD) Performance of the Night bonus after the show.
This featured prelim is a battle of two former champions at 170 lbs. Seok Hyeon Ko held the Angels Fighting Championship Welterweight Championship in two stints between 2021 and 2022, while Oban Elliott won the Cage Warriors Amateur Welterweight Championship in December of 2018.
It’ll be a good fight to cap off the UFC Baku undercard. Who will emerge victorious?
UFC Baku Co-Featured Prelim: Ismail Naurdiev vs. Jun Yong Park
Immediately beforehand, the co-featured undercard bout of UFC Baku shifts the focus of action to the middleweight ranks as Ismail Naurdiev (24-7 MMA, 3-2 UFC) takes on Jun Yong Park (18-6 MMA, 8-3 UFC). This is a rescheduling from May 17, when the fight was postponed due to being rebooked for Saturday night.
Naurdiev will be touching down in Baku with a 3-2 record in his last five fights. At the moment, he’s on a two-fight winning streak. Last time out, he scored a unanimous decision victory against Bruno Silva (23-13 MMA, 4-7 UFC) in his promotional return back in October during UFC 308’s early prelims on UFC Fight Pass and ESPN+.
He’s had almost eight months between fights. What kind of ring rust does Naurdiev have going into this one?
Meanwhile, Jun Yong Park has posted a 4-1 mark over the course of his last five contests. On Oct. 12 of last year, he emerged victorious from his rescheduled fight versus Brad Tavares (21-10 MMA, 16-10 UFC.) Park was supposed to have fought Tavares in Enterprise at the Apex last July but the contest got postponed the day before the show following the weigh-ins after he wasn’t medically authorized to do battle.
Park has been on the upswing of late, having won five out of his last six fights. What will Saturday bring for him?
UFC Baku: Daria Zheleznyakova vs. Melissa Mullins II
Also on the UFC Baku undercard, you’ll see a women’s bantamweight showcase between Daria Zheleznyakova (9-2 MMA, 1-1 UFC) and Melissa Mullins (7-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC). This fight is a rematch of a contest between the two of them from Nov. 3, 2022 in Ares FC 9, won by the latter with one second remaining on the first-round clock by knockout.
The former enters this weekend’s bout with a record of 3-2 in her last five fights dating back to her tenure in Ares FC. Last fall, she sustained her first loss in MMA’s No. 1 promotion by way of first-round submission due to arm-triangle choke versus Allin Perez (12-2 MMA, 5-1 UFC) in UFC Paris.
UFC Baku’s undercard offers up a chance at revenge for Zheleznyakova. Expect her to fight with frustration once the cage door shuts on Saturday night.
In the other corner, Melissa Mullins will be entering this rematch having gone 4-1 herself in her last five fights. The former Golden Ticket Fight Promotions Women’s Bantamweight Champion in England returned to the win column with a second-round knockout (ground and pound shots) over Klaudia Sygula (6-2 MMA, 0-1 UFC) last November at the UFC Apex facility.
Knockout wins have become habitual for Melissa Mullins ahead of UFC Baku on Saturday. Of her seven career wins as a professional, four of them have been by way of knockout, including the original contest versus Zheleznyakova in 2022. Can she score her second consecutive win against her?
Final Thoughts
Which prelim or prelims are you looking forward to on UFC Baku? Let us know in the comments.