Brandon Moreno showed out and put on one of his most impressive performances in recent memory against Amir Albazi in Edmonton.
Albazi started a bit slow through the first two rounds. Him being economical in his offense wasn’t anything new, but he did look a bit rusty as the commentary team alluded to. This slow start allowed Moreno to find his groove quickly and he was clearly the more confident fighter early. Albazi ultimately was never able to catch up and Moreno completely shut his game down.
Despite his two-fight skid being two split decisions that could’ve gone his way, there was some uncertainty regarding what state Moreno would be in after his somewhat uncommonly sluggish outing back in February . Yes, he lost to the very elite of the division and arguably won those fights, but they were back and forth wars.
These types of high octane bouts can age fighters pretty fast and there was some concern that, all of a sudden, Moreno could come out and look old. And that’s not even mentioning his insane quadrilogy with Deiveson Figueiredo that came before this losing streak.
On media day, Moreno mentioned that he was feeling the pressure of the life as champion and having to headline a card on his home soil. He said he needed the time off and that he felt rejuvenated now. Impossible not to believe him after what we saw tonight. The Mexican, who very much could have been on the Sphere card back in September, clearly benefited from the additional time off. Being 0-2 against the current champion and having lost to Brandon Royval this year works against as far as the title picture goes. But he is still a fan favourite that will most likely find himself in a number 1 contender fight next.
As for Albazi, he was coming off a 17-month layoff after having to go through several scary surgeries to fix injuries that he said could have left him paralyzed. So the mere fact he made it back to the octagon after having to go through all that adversity is something to be applauded. Having to fight Moreno after such a layoff isn’t an easy thing to do. His win streak now comes to an end as he was previously undefeated in the UFC. He should take some time off after such a beating.
With the flyweight division heating up and a lot of people thinking he should have lost his last fight to Kai Kara-France, this loss might push Albazi to the back of the line at 125 lbs.
The first ever UFC Mexican champion gets to hold his spot near the top of the division, while the surging contender will go back to the drawing board.
