It’s safe to say that the people’s main event at UFC Baku was not Jamahal Hill vs Khalil Rountree Jr.
The promotion touched down in Azerbaijan for the very first time this week, bringing UFC action to its capital city at Baku Crystal Hall.
Selected to close the show were Hill and Rountree Jr, as the pair of hard-hitting light heavyweights both looked to get back into the championship picture following title losses in 2024.
In that regard, it was ‘The War Horse’ who succeeded. But it seems that not many of the Azerbaijani fans stuck around long enough to witness his triumph.
Footage shows mass exit of fans before Jamahal Hill vs Khalil Rountree at UFC Baku
Saturday’s main event saw Rountree Jr beat Hill on the scorecards after dropping ‘Sweet Dreams’ multiple times.
The five-round clash as a whole left a lot to be desired in the eyes of fight fans, perhaps vindicating the decision of many locals to swarm for the exits before the main event even began
Footage uploaded to the Ushatayka Instagram account showed the Baku Crystal Hall emptying out after home favorite Rafael Fiziev’s victory over Ignacio Bahamondes in the co-main event.
Fans reacted to the mass exodus of supporters at UFC Baku, with some suggesting the pair may as well have competed inside the low-capacity UFC Apex facility in Las Vegas.
“Literally an Apex fight right now.”
“Crowd is quieter than an Apex card.”
“Leaving the main event?? Don’t ever go back there.”
“Couldn’t blame them if they did (leave).”
UFC Baku fans had to wait until the eighth fight to see a finish
The UFC’s first event in Baku didn’t go exactly as Dana White and co. might have hoped.
In addition to the lackluster main event and a dull affair between Curtis Blaydes and Rizvan Kuniev on the main card, fans had to wait eight fights to even see a finish.
A preliminary card full of decisions and a main-card opener that followed suit left the UFC on a run of 13 straight decisions across the Atlanta and Baku cards.
Thankfully, up stepped Nazim Sadykhov to save the day on home soil.
‘Black Wolf’ emerged victorious from a memorable war against Nikolas Motta, surviving a first-round onslaught to find the finish himself with a devastating combination in round two.