Brandon Moreno and Amir Albazi are ranked No. 2 and No. 3, respectively, in the UFC’s official flyweight rankings, but the gap between their skills is far wider than the numbers suggest. Moreno outclassed Albazi across 25 minutes of their UFC Fight Night main event en route to victory.
Moreno and Albazi had things to prove to themselves in Edmonton on Saturday. This was Moreno’s first fight following a self-imposed eight-month hiatus to heal from burnout and lingering injuries. Albazi returned to action after a 17-month absence, during which he required heart and neck surgery.
Moreno lit up Albazi with superior kickboxing and fended off virtually all takedown attempts. UFC’s number crunchers credited Albazi for a takedown in Round 2, but Moreno bounced back to his feet so quickly that it didn’t matter. Moreno’s dominance tapered off slightly in Round 4, the only round you could conceivably give to Albazi, but he got right back on the bike. Moreno’s biggest moment came in Round 5 where he rocked Albazi with a left hook and bloodied him. Albazi pointed to the center of the Octagon in the final 30 seconds but quickly retreated under fire from Moreno, which included a rolling axe kick.
“I feel amazing, I feel fantastic. I feel like a new person,” former UFC flyweight champion Moreno said during his post-fight interview. “I want to be up to the top again. I want my title back. This is a reminder to the division. I never say anything. I’m always very respectful to everyone. But, man, give me someone in the cage and I’ll be that badass.”
Moren broke the UFC flyweight record for most significant strikes landed, crossing the 1,100 mark to move ahead of recently retired former champion Demetrious Johnson (1,059 total significant strikes).
Moreno (21-8-2) looked rejuvenated after consecutive losses to flyweight champ Alexandre Pantoja and Brandon Royval. Albazi (17-2) suffered his first UFC loss after racking up five wins against Kai Kara-France and Francisco Figueiredo, among others.
