Rafael Fiziev’s career in the lightweight division came into question after Mauricio Ruffy handed him a crushing defeat at UFC 325 in January. This was especially concerning given that this was his fourth loss in five fights. Another loss and UFC would’ve likely considered cutting him. As such, the Azerbaijani fighter needed a strong comeback to prove he is still a serious contender at 155 lbs. Well, ‘Ataman’ got the opportunity to headline today’s Fight Night card in his home soil at UFC Baku, and he left no stone unturned.

Fiziev knocked out surging contender Manuel Torres early in the second round with a spectacular spinning back-kick. However, the 33-year-old’s latest win didn’t come without adversity, as he claimed to have suffered significant eye problems after his opponent landed a jab during their fight.

“Bro, I didn’t see anything with my left eye,” Fiziev said in the post-fight Octagon interview. “He has last his jab in the first round… I have something happen in my eye bro. Like that, I close my eye and I don’t see. I see everything. But when I open two, everything double you know. And when I stepped to second round, I think what the f–k man, like what I can do right now. Okay, throw spinning back kick and boom, and you know what happened now.”

When the fight started, Fiziev clearly had the upper hand as he won the early exchanges. But Torres definitely had problems dealing with the hometown hero’s pressure. Because of that, the Mexican became a little too reckless and started overextending his punches. Torres also landed a low blow that forced Fiziev to take the allowed recovery time. As the fight progressed, Torres had trouble finding the mark, but he did manage to land some jabs that Fiziev claims compromised his eyesight.

Also, a jab landing directly on the eye during a fight isn’t something new. At UFC 124 title bout, the defending welterweight champion, Georges St. Pierre, landed a stiff jab in his rematch with Josh Koscheck that affected his vision in the opening round, which led to a comfortable unanimous decision victory for the Canadian legend. Following the fight, Koscheck revealed that GSP’s jab struck him directly in the eye socket, breaking his orbital bone and forcing him to fight the remaining 23 minutes without proper depth perception.

That said, Rafael Fiziev is also no stranger to dealing with eye-poke issues. Before UFC Baku, Justin Gaethje poked the Azerbaijan native in the eye at UFC 286, which also compromised his vision. At the time, Fiziev took verbal shots at the current lightweight champion, claiming the eye poke played a major role in the outcome and that the result could have been different otherwise. As a result, the two met again at UFC 313, where Gaethje once again defeated Fiziev, this time without much controversy.

Now, regardless of Rafael Fiziev’s eye issues, the fact remains that he beat Manuel Torres fair and square. After securing the victory, the 33-year-old wasted no time calling out his next opponent for what could be the biggest fight of his career.

Rafael Fiziev calls out Charles Oliveira after UFC Baku win

Following his stellar comeback at UFC Baku, the stage was set for Rafael Fiziev to decide his next move, and he chose to call out the BMF champion Charles Oliveira.

“Ay, BMF belt,” Fiziev stated during his post-fight interview. “BMF belt! Who wants to be a BMF? I want to take the BMF belt.”

Last year, the 33-year-old was scheduled to face Charles Oliveira at UFC Rio, but a recurring knee injury forced Fiziev out of the bout. In his place, Mateusz Gamrot faced the former lightweight champion, and it turned out to be a relatively comfortable win for the Brazilian.

After that, Fiziev never got another opportunity to face an opponent of Oliveira’s standing. But even though he made a strong callout, the chances are that Oliveira might not entertain the fight.

In a recent interview, the current BMF champion stated that he is willing to put his belt on the line against Justin Gaethje in a rematch while also eyeing a showdown with Conor McGregor. As such, it is expected that the former 155-pound champion would be more interested in pursuing one of those matchups.

That said, for Rafael Fiziev, a matchup against someone like Dan Hooker could be a very realistic option, as it would make for a fiery showdown in the lightweight division.