Former UFC Flyweight Champion Brandon Moreno put together one of the most one-sided performances of his career on Saturday night, nearly shutting out Amir Albazi in a five-round decision.
Moreno returned to the win column with a unanimous scorecard result this weekend, headlining a UFC “Fight Night” card from the Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
The superior striking of Moreno made two judges score all five rounds in his favor. He connected with a higher volume of shots throughout the fight, as opponent Albazi struggled to find openings for his own significant moments and failed to get the bout to the canvas.
Moreno was the more active fighter from the start to the very end, being the aggressor in stand-up exchanges. Some pockets of the bout were more dominant for him than others, like in the second round when Albazi landed just six significant strikes while Moreno continued to score with dozens of his own blows.
The former champ only grew stronger as the fight progressed. His best round was arguably the fifth, where he rocked Albazi with a left hook and produced lopsided striking stats once again.
“I knew that my striking would be the advantage in this fight, and definitely I think it’s going to be the advantage in my next fight,” Moreno said in his post-fight interview.
Albazi failed in his few attempts to get the fight onto the mat. His sole takedown in the fight – which emerged in the second frame – saw him only keep Moreno on the mat for a couple of seconds before the ex-flyweight king sprung back up.
The fight was a massive bounce-back win for Moreno, who took an eight-month break from competition after falling out of the flyweight division’s title picture.
“Brother I feel amazing,” he said. “I feel fantastic. I feel like a new guy, a new person … Today was amazing.”
Former two-time flyweight champ Moreno had his second run with the belt brought to an end at UFC 290 last year, losing a five-round split decision to Alexandre Pantoja.
In February of this year, Moreno fell to his first-ever two-fight skid since rejoining the UFC roster in 2019, losing a five-round clash against Brandon Rovyal. After coming up unsuccessful in his first non-title appearance in more than three years, Mexico’s Moreno made the decision to step away from competing for some time.
Earlier in the week, Moreno commented that his time in between fights gave him a chance to mentally and physically recover: “It’s crazy how my last two fight camps, I didn’t feel like this,” Moreno said on Wednesday. “I felt all the stress, all the responsibilities. At some point, that exploded in my mind and I wasn’t really enjoying these kind of moments.”
With his victory on Saturday, Moreno will hold onto his spot as the second-ranked flyweight contender. However, the question of what he needs to do in order for another shot at the belt is a hard one to answer.
Since Moreno has lost to current champ Pantoja and first-place contender Royval, it might be quite hard for him to slide into a shot in the near future. It’s also known at the moment that any conversations regarding a chance at the flyweight title must wait until 2025, as the champ is currently booked to meet RIZIN standout Kai Asakura in the co-main event of the promotion’s December pay-per-view.
Albazi was returning for the first time in over a year this weekend, coming back after a pair of medical incidents kept him on the shelf for months on end.
The Iraq-born contender was diagnosed with Supraventricular Tachycardia in 2023, causing him to undergo heart surgery. He would later also seek treatment for an arm injury, as UFC officials warned him the damage he suffered to his left arm made him “one punch away from actually getting paralyzed,” he said.
This weekend offered a chance for Albazi to pick up from the strong position he left off at in the division. After previously attaining a five-fight winning streak in the UFC – including performances against Alessandro Costa and Kai Kara-France – Albazi had the opportunity to move up a spot from his third-place ranking and overcome a former champ for the first time with a win over Moreno. He will now instead look to bounce back from the second-ever setback of his career.
Here are the quick results from Saturday’s card in Edmonton:
Main Card (8:00PM EDT / 6:00PM MDT) (ESPN+)
Bout 13: Brandon Moreno def. Amir Albazi via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 12: Erin Blanchfield def. Rose Namajunas via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 11: Brendson Ribeiro def. Caio Machado via Decision, Split
Bout 10: Jasmine Jasudavicius def. Ariane da Silva via Submission, D’Arce Choke (RD 3, 2:28)
Bout 9: Dustin Stoltzfus def. Marc-Andre Barriault via TKO, Strikes (RD 1, 4:28)
Bout 8: Mike Malott def. Trevin Giles via Decision, Unanimous
Preliminary Card (5:00PM EDT / 3:00PM MDT) (ESPN+)
Bout 7: Aiemann Zahabi def. Pedro Munhoz via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 6: Charles Jourdain def. Victor Henry via Submission, Guillotine Choke (RD 2, 3:43)
Bout 5: Youssef Zalal def. Jack Shore via Submission, Arm Triangle Choke (RD 2, 0:59)
Bout 4: Alexandr Romanov def. Rodrigo Nascimento via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 3: Serhiy Sidey def. Garrett Armfield via Decision, Split
Bout 2: Cody Gibson def. Chad Anheliger via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 1: Jamey-Lyn Horth def. Ivana Petrovic via Decision, Split
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