UFC Edmonton Preview
The UFC is returning to Rogers Arena in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada on Saturday November 2nd for a UFC Fight Night. The main event will be in the flyweight division as former two-time champion Brandon Moreno will battle rising contender Amir Albazi.
Moreno is trying to rebound from two straight losses starting with losing the title to Alexandre Pantoja at UFC 290 by split decision. His most recent fight was a split decision loss in a rematch with Brandon Royval in February. While Moreno is a two-time champion, he was never able to defend the belt. He had three tough fights with Deiveson Figueiredo in two years going 1-1-1 in those battles. He would win the fourth fight by third round TKO to reclaim the belt only to lose it in his next fight to Pantoja.
The Mexican fighter is still only 30, but does see retirement sooner than later in his future. "So I have my goal very clear. I'm not putting extra pressure on myself, but I wanna retire young. I'm thinking maybe like 33, 34," Moreno said.
He continued, "A lot of people [say] like, 'man, you're very young...' Like, yes, I'm very young. My spirit is amazing. I feel like 20 right now. But my body, I start this sport very young with bad habits, like, don't use a headgear and don't do this and don't take care of your injuries. [Not] doing physical therapy, all these bad habits, I start to feel it right now. So, I want to be out of the sport healthy."
The former champion concluded, "I want to try to enjoy my family a little bit more. I want to be very present in the life of my daughters, my wife, and that's it," Moreno said. "I have a very long career. I've been in this sport for so many years and I think it's smart to be out of the sport at that age."
Moreno has not fought in eight months, and he explained why. “I am the first Mexican world champion. The guy from a huge country with a lot of support on a person,” Moreno said. “That person is me. It’s not just the training camp. It’s not just the fight. Now it’s about the media, about the responsibilities, the travels, the media tours. I don’t know. Maybe I’m a p***y, maybe I’m a weak person.
“Maybe other fighters can say, ‘Hey, that’s nothing. Shut the f**k up and keep going.’ Maybe that’s true, but talking about myself. That’s something huge. I’ve been on the grind like two, three years in a row,” Moreno added. “Fighting in an amazing spot, being around the world, doing a lot of work, a lot of media days. I’m a human being, man. And at some point, it exploded my mind. And that’s why I decided to take a break.”
Moreno explained how he feels heading into a fight with a contender on the rise such as Albazi. “I feel very frustrated because even when I lost my last two fights, I feel in my prime,” Moreno said. “I feel very strong, I feel stronger, I feel with better technique, I feel with more knowledge about the fight game. Just the result isn’t what I’ve been having in my last couple of fights. Now my goal is to show that to the world. To show all my hard work at the gym, and that’s it.”
Despite his losing streak, Moreno is currently ranked second in the flyweight division and with a win on Saturday he could put himself back in the title picture. While he did lose to Pantoja on the judges scorecards, like most Moreno fights it was a great back and forth war. Royval moved into the top spot with his second straight win including his victory over Moreno and is looking like he will get a rematch with Pantoja for the title. If Moreno wins on Saturday, he can sit back and wait on a third fight with either Royval or Pantoja to once again fight for the flyweight championship.
Albazi only has one pro loss and is 5-0 in the UFC. He most recently won a split decision over Kai Kara France back in June of 2023. A win on Saturday represents the biggest of his career and could set him up for his first title shot. The Iraqi fighter explained why he suffered such a long layoff before the biggest fight of his career.
“I couldn’t lift my arm up, I couldn’t jab, I couldn’t do anything, but I still kept training,” Albazi said.
“After I got my first MRI, the first doctor said, ‘You shouldn’t be fighting anymore. Find a 9-to-5.’ I kept going to different doctors, and when the UFC doctors found out, they literally pulled me out of the fight, and I had to go straight into surgery.
“They told me I was one punch away from getting paralyzed. So, after that surgery, here I am.”
The 31-year-old is savoring the moment of making his return to fight in a main event. “Man, it feels really good to be back,” he said.
“Just sitting in the car on the way to the hotel, thinking, ‘It’s finally fight week! It’s been a long wait.’ It feels so good to be back after so many obstacles.”
Albazi is confident he is the best fighter in the flyweight division and is ready to move to the top of the rankings. “That was probably the hardest part of being away (was) when I see these guys fighting each other, the rankings change, people go up, people go down; that guy gets a title shot, that guy gets a title shot, and I feel I can’t do nothing about it,” he admitted. “I’m not even back to training yet, and these guys are fighting for a title.
“Especially seeing Steve Erceg. Nothing but respect to him, but he was ranked No. 9 when he got the title shot, so I’m thinking, ‘They must really miss me in the weight class. I’ve really got to get back to show what I can do.’ He put up a good fight against the champion, and I feel there were many other guys in line, but Pantoja beat them all; same thing with Brandon Royval.
“But these guys haven’t fought me yet,” he added with a smile. “Brandon hasn’t fought me yet. I’m just happy to be back here on fight week, to show what I’ve got, to put my stamp on this division.”
The rest of the main card:
Women's Flyweight - #3 Erin Blanchfield vs. #5 Rose Namajunas
Heavyweight - #11 Derrick Lewis vs. Jhonata Diniz
Light Heavyweight - Caio Machado vs. Brendson Ribeiro
Middleweight - Marc-André Barriault vs. Dustin Stoltzfus
Welterweight - Mike Malott vs. Trevin Giles
ESPN+ Prelims:
Bantamweight - Aiemann Zahabi vs. Pedro Munhoz
Women's Flyweight - #13 Ariane da Silva vs. #14 Jasmine Jasudavicius
Bantamweight - Charles Jourdain vs. Victor Henry
Featherweight - Jack Shore vs. Youssef Zalal
Heavyweight - Alexander Romanov vs. Rodrigo Nascimento
Bantamweight - Serhiy Sidey vs. Garrett Armfield
Bantamweight - Chad Anheliger vs. Cody Gibson
Women's Flyweight - Jamey-Lyn Horth vs. Ivana Petrović
