A former title contender aimed to turn his career trajectory from a downward spiral to an upward resurgence at one of the UFC’s most sought-after international events this year. Alas, those dreams have now taken a hit as a result of an injury.

On June 27, former middleweight title challenger Marvin Vettori was set to return against Ismail Naurdiev at UFC Baku. ‘The Italian Dream’ had recently moved his camp from Florida to California, training alongside Beneil Dariush and others to prepare for the bout. However, a few days ago, the 32-year-old suffered an injury during training and had to undergo an MRI. The scan revealed that Vettori had broken a rib during camp, leading to an unfortunate withdrawal from his next bout. 

“Unfortunately, I’m here to tell you that a few days ago, I got hurt on my rib,” Vettori revealed on Instagram. “I did an MRI and it came back today showing that the rib is broken. So, I won’t be fighting June 27. I was really looking forward to this fight. I moved from Florida to California for this camp. I wanted to get back to my roots, train with Beneil (Dariush), train with Julian for my boxing, train with Chase for my conditioning.

“I was feeling good, but sometimes s–t happens, and you can’t do anything about it. So yeah, now I’m just going to focus on my recovery, hopefully it doesn’t take too long, 4-6 weeks, I’m good to train again. If they reschedule me with the same guy, great. If not, it doesn’t matter. Anybody is good to me. For everybody that supported me, I’m thankful for that, and I promise you that I will be back.” 

While the Italian appeared regretful, the fact that his return has been pushed back further should be concerning for his camp, considering his recent run in the promotion. Marvin Vettori is currently on a four-fight losing streak, with his last win coming against Roman Dolidze at UFC 286 in March 2023. His last bout was in December 2025, at UFC 323 where he lost a decision to Brunno Ferreira. Another similar setback and he could risk his position in the company. It was why the fight against Ismail Naurdiev carried such great importance.

The promotion has not yet announced whether it has found a replacement for Vettori or plans to reschedule the fight for a later event. When it comes to injuries, the Italian fighter is certainly no stranger to setbacks.

After checking a leg kick from Paulo Costa in their light heavyweight bout in 2021, Vettori suffered a knee injury that damaged his PCL. However, the most devastating setback of his career came in the form of a serious bicep and shoulder injury.

During a training session at American Top Team in 2024, the Mezzocorona native tore his rotator cuff, labrum, and bicep, forcing him out for the entire year. Vettori underwent multiple surgeries and endured a difficult recovery process, something that has seemingly reflected in his later performances, as he is yet to secure a win since returning. Despite going without a fight in 2024 and a win in 2025, the former 185-pound contender remains hopeful that he can traverse these difficult times and make a solid comeback. 

With the air around Marvin Vettori’s recovery time and next opponent still unclear, UFC Baku has definitely lost a good scrap. But overall, the promotion’s second visit to the country still looks solid, considering the main and co-main events remain intact.

UFC comes back to Baku with a solid Fight Night card 

Dana White’s promotion debuted in Azerbaijan last year with a Fight Night card headlined by Jamahal Hill vs. Khalil Rountree Jr., an event that fans highly appreciated. This time, Rafael Fiziev is set to headline the card in front of his home crowd against the dangerous Manuel Torres.

Well, the Baku audience already witnessed ‘Ataman’ fighting Ignacio Bahamondes last year. In that sense, it’s a second homecoming for Fiziev. In his last outing at home turf, the lightweight contender snapped his three-fight losing skid in Baku by defeating the young Bahamondes, and the stakes once again feel very similar.

In February, Fiziev lost an important fight against Mauricio Ruffy at UFC 325, so he will need to bounce back against Manuel Torres, who is 5-1 in the UFC and has finished most of his opponents in round one. However, the main event is not the only fight generating intrigue among fans. Shara Magomedov is also returning to take on Michel Pereira in a high-profile middleweight bout in the co-main event.

The Russian was once on the cusp of earning a title shot. But his first career loss against Michael ‘Venom’ Page last year poured cold water on those plans. Although he bounced back with a win over Marc-André Barriault in June 2025, the scary middleweight still needs a statement victory to fully re-enter the title conversation.

The other fights on the main card are as follows:

• Brunno Ferreira vs. Ikram Aliskerov
• Asu Almabayev vs. Charles Johnson
• Michal Oleksiejczuk vs. Abusupiyan Magomedov
• Nursulton Ruziboev vs. Andrey Pulyaev
• Julius Walker vs. Abdul-Rakhman Yakhyaev
• Bekzat Almakhan vs. Jean Matsumoto

With the fight between Marvin Vettori and Ismail Naurdiev falling through, the card has definitely taken a blow. But with the rest of the fights still intact, fans are likely to remain excited about the promotion’s second visit to Baku.