5 Things You Might Not Know About Tofiq Musayev

Tofiq Musayev could soon make himself a known commodity to a much wider audience.

The well-traveled 33-year-old will confront Alexandr Shabliy when their Bellator MMA lightweight grand prix quarterfinal serves as the Bellator 292 co-main event on Friday at the SAP Center in San Jose, California. Musayev enters the eight-man draw with plenty of momentum, having won 16 of his past 17 bouts. He last competed on July 22, when he needed just 27 seconds to dispatch Sidney Outlaw with punches in his promotional debut at Bellator 283.

As Musayev pores over the remaining details associated with his forthcoming showdown against Shabliy, here are five things you might not know about him:

1. He had a better chance of becoming a roughneck than a prizefighter.

Musayev was born on Dec. 15, 1989 in Sahil, Azerbaijan—a village of roughly 23,000 people situated some 25 miles to the southwest of the capital city of Baku. It rests on the western shore of the Caspian Sea, where the oil industry continues to boom.

2. His talents have taken him far and wide.

The Orion Fight Club export made his professional mixed martial arts debut at the age of 23 and has competed in seven different countries across his 24-fight career. In addition to four appearances in his native Azerbaijan, Musayev has fought in Ukraine, Russia, Turkey, Japan and the United States.

3. The tournament format suited his skills.

Musayev won the Rizin Fighting Federation lightweight grand prix in 2019. He cut down Damien Brown with a first-round head kick and follow-up punches in the quarterfinals, wiped out Johnny Case with first-round punches in the semis and took a unanimous decision from Patricky Freire in the final.

4. He has known sustained success.

The Azerbaijani standout once went more than six years between defeats. After dropping a unanimous decision to Aigun Akhmedov at a regional event in Moscow on Oct. 31, 2014, Musayev did not lose again until he succumbed to a triangle choke from Roberto Satoshi de Souza in a failed bid to capture the inaugural Rizin Fighting Federation lightweight title at Rizin 28 on June 13, 2021. In between, he rattled off 15 consecutive victories.

5. He tends to get the job done with his fist and feet.

Musayev has delivered 16 of his 20 career wins by knockout or technical knockout, 12 of them inside one round. Among his victims: Marif Piraev, Murad Shakhbanov and Yincang Bao.