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No. 5-ranked UFC heavyweight Curtis Blaydes will welcome Rizvan Kuniev to the octagon this weekend at UFC Baku live from Baku Crystal Hall in Baku, Azerbaijan. The three-round heavyweight showdown between Blaydes and Kuniev goes down right before the co-main event, which features a lightweight clash between Rafael Fiziev and Ignacio Bahamondes.
Blaydes has been knocked out in two of his last three UFC outings. In 2023, 'Razor' suffered a first-round TKO loss to Sergei Pavlovich and then returned to winning ways by scoring a second-round TKO against Jailton Almeida at UFC 299.
However, in his next outing, at UFC 304, against interim champion Tom Aspinall, Blaydes was knocked out by Aspinall in round one. This weekend at UFC Baku, he will be looking to rebound from the devastating loss and get back into title contention.
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On the other side, Kuniev (12-2-1) secured a spot on the roster after earning a round one knockout over Hugo Cunha on 'Dana White's Contender Series' in 2024.
Previously, Kuniev had also won on 'DWCS' in 2021, but didn't earn a UFC contract. However, this weekend, being featured on the main card vs. Blaydes, the Russian will be looking to register a win to start with a bang.
UFC Baku coverage begins on Saturday, June 21, at 12:00 pm ET on ESPN+ and ESPN 2. The main card is scheduled to start at 3 pm ET on ABC and ESPN+.
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