Preview: UFC Baku Prelims

Hasanov vs. Nolan

Ben Duffy Jun 24, 2026

It looks as if Azerbaijan may become a regular stop for the Ultimate Fighting Championship, and the region’s rich pool of rising talent is responding.

Advertisement Almost exactly a year after UFC on ABC “Hill vs. Rountree” marked the promotion’s first trip to Central Asia, the Octagon will loom once more over the capital city of Baku, this time with UFC Fight Night 280 “Fiziev vs. Torres.” Between the pair of UFC cards and Rizin Fighting Federation’s 2023 event in the same National Gymnastics Arena, Azerbaijan has become the gateway to the region for global promotions.

This weekend’s trip to Baku differs from last year’s in several ways, and the differences point to this becoming a routine stop on the UFC’s annual global itinerary. Where last year’s card was anchored by a pair of American light heavyweight contenders, this year Rafael Fiziev, easily Azerbaijan’s highest-profile fighter, is promoted from co-main event to headliner. UFC Baku 2025 featured a heavy sprinkling of fighters from the region, but UFC Baku 2026 showcases Central Asian talent in almost every fight, including four Azerbaijanis, two of whom will be making their Octagon debuts. It also includes rising Dagestani star Sharabutdin “Shara Bullet” Magomedov, who has had difficulty obtaining visas to travel to North America or Western Europe in the past and has otherwise had to wait for the UFC’s next trip to Dubai.

As an example of a well-constructed fight night, showing off rising talent and taking full advantage of locale, UFC Baku might be the promotion’s best effort in the first half of 2026. Here is the preview for the seven-fight undercard:

Welterweights
Farman Hasanov (4-0) vs. Eric Nolan (8-4)

BETTING ODDS: Hasanov (-180); Nolan (+140)

Native prospect Hasanov makes his UFC debut here against Nolan, who moves back down from middleweight in this, his second chance at a first Octagon win.

Hasanov is a late bloomer—he turns 31 next month—but he has some UFC-level tools and has developed rapidly since relocating his training to the US and launching his professional career in earnest about three years ago. The Baku native is an absolute specimen, not in a “cartoonishly jacked” way, but simply in terms of meeting the eyeball test for an elite MMA athlete. In the cage, he is as advertised: a powerful, dynamic athlete whose still-rudimentary skills are driven by his physical gifts.

Tape on the four-fight veteran is obviously scarce, but on the feet, Hasanov is a willing, aggressive striker with good natural power and the instincts, if not always the technique, to throw punches in bunches. Like many raw prospects, his defense lags behind his offense. He is quite hittable even by otherwise badly overmatched foes, and he deals poorly with pressure, backing straight up and letting his output disappear.

Hasanov’s ground game, much like his standup, is more enthusiastic than technical at this point. He looks to wrestle fairly often, and has a solid basic double-leg that he finishes with power, but doesn’t always set up his level changes and can shoot from too far away. When he is on top, he is a methodical bruiser, favoring damage over positional advances.

Nolan made his UFC debut on ultra-short notice last August, up a weight class, against a mildly intriguing undefeated middleweight prospect in Baisangur Susurkaev. It was a daunting task and “Night Time” acquitted himself well, hurting Susurkaev on the feet and winning Round 1—perhaps the first fighter to take a round off of the Russian—before submitting to a rear-naked choke in the second frame. Now back in the weight division where he won the CFFC title and with a full camp to prepare, he will look to follow up that moral victory with an actual one.

Nolan is far more experienced than Hasanov despite being several years younger, but he has less obvious upside. The 28-year-old New Jersey native is a middling athlete who compensates with disciplined kickboxing, using volume and pressure to do damage and win rounds. While he prefers to do his work on the feet, he is capable of a decent reactive takedown and is more than capable of finishing off a hurt or compromised foe with a quick back take and choke.

However, Nolan has a couple of serious flaws that led directly to his downfall in his UFC debut as well as most of his losses in CFFC. His front-foot-heavy striking style leaves him vulnerable to kicks—Susurkaev wrecked him with calf kicks—and while he is a decent offensive grappler, his own defensive wrestling and grappling are both poor.

The betting line feels about right here. Hasanov has the far greater apparent upside and should be both bigger and faster, but even if Nolan is the epitome of a regional killer who hits a wall at the UFC level, he will be easily the most skilled and experienced fighter Hasanov has faced to date. It isn’t hard to picture Nolan turning in a tough, smart, veteran performance and eking out a win, especially if he can test Hasanov’s cardio late.

However, the pick here is that Hasanov continues to show improvement, starts landing first and harder, and piles up the damage on a game but outgunned Nolan. Hasanov by Round 2 KO.

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Hasanov vs. Nolan
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