If you just look at the record of Amir Albazi, it seems like things have only been on the up for him. He hasn’t lost since joining the UFC roster, and he continues to rack up wins despite the competition getting steeper.
At third place in the division, Albazi is the highest-ranked flyweight contender who has yet to challenge for the belt, making him poised for a potential shot in the future for the world title.
But his record doesn’t tell the full story. The 31-year-old Arizona-residing talent has dealt with loads of adversity outside of the cage, including an injury that called into question the future of his career as a fighter.
Albazi recently recounted a pair of medical issues – both challenging in their own ways – which explain why he has been out of the cage for 16 months. The first emerged just before his last appearance, a split decision win last year against fellow title contender Kai Kara-France.
“Before my Kai Kara-France fight, I was struggling with some issues,” Albazi said at a UFC media day this week. “I didn’t really know what it was, but after my fight, it showed that I had something called supraventricular tachycardia.”
As explained by the Cleveland Clinic, Supraventricular Tachycardia (or SVT) is “a common kind of arrhythmia when your heartbeat is too fast.” It’s a medical condition which in some cases doesn’t need treatment, but in the instance of Albazi caused heart surgery.
After dealing with a sudden medical condition, Albazi was ready to get back into the cage. UFC handed him a big matchup to start his 2024 strong: Stepping into enemy territory, facing former UFC Flyweight Champion Brandon Moreno in Mexico.
The matchup was a huge assignment for Albazi, who at the time seemed one more fight away from becoming the next flyweight title challenger. Yet, another extracurricular struggle would get placed in his way.
“My left arm literally stopped,” he explained. “I couldn’t lift my arm up. I couldn’t jab, I couldn’t do anything. I still kept training, even the coaches were like ‘You’re crazy.’ … After I got my first MRI, the first doctor told me ‘You shouldn’t be fighting anymore. Find a 9 to 5.’ I kept going to different doctors. 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 ‘You’re one punch away from actually getting paralyzed.'”
After a second surgery, this time for a completely unrelated reason than his previous trip to the hospital, Albazi finally found himself booked for this weekend’s main event in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
“I’m just grateful, I’ve been taking it step by step,” Albazi explained. “It’s been just obstacles after obstacles, but I’m grateful to finally be here … “It was a lot of hard moments. I try to see the light at the end of the tunnel. I’m a big believer in God, so I believe that my path is written. I knew I was gonna come back. I had a feeling that this was gonna be just another hurdle I need to overcome. And I’m right. Here I am.”
After more than a year without stepping into the cage once, Albazi is razor-focused on his assignment this weekend. He’s not worried about how his performance will stack up against fellow contender Brandon Royval’s win from earlier this month, or what he thinks about Kai Asakura getting a title shot ahead of anyone else in the division.
He explained that he’s not worried about what else is going on in the division, whether it’s other people’s fights or his opponent getting custom Venom shorts this weekend while he wears the regular UFC uniform.
“First of all, I’m looking to get in, get a win, get a finish on Saturday night and then I can talk about taking the title next.”
For now, all Albazi wants to think about is the fight in front of him. And after spending the past year dealing with issues that stopped him from being in that position, it’s hard to blame him.
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