Tag: Amir Albazi

Breaking – Brandon Moreno set to fight Amir Albazi in UFC Mexico City co-Headliner in February return

Brandon Moreno set to fight Amir Albazi at UFC Mexico City five rounds February 24Former undisputed flyweight champion, Brandon Moreno is set for his return to the Octagon, taking co-main event honors at…

Brandon Moreno set to fight Amir Albazi at UFC Mexico City five rounds February 24

Former undisputed flyweight champion, Brandon Moreno is set for his return to the Octagon, taking co-main event honors at a UFC Fight Night Mexico City event on February 24. next – taking on surging contender, Amir Albazi in a five round clash.

Moreno, a former undisputed and interim flyweight champion, has been sidelined since he dropped his undisputed title at UFC 290 back in July in the co-main event of the International Fight Week event, dropping a close split decision loss to the incumbent in the pair’s Octagon rematch.

As for Albazi, the Iraq native has captured the number three rank in the official flyweight pile, most recently turning in a split decision win over common-foe and former interim title challenger, Kai Kara-France in the main event of UFC Vegas 74 back in June, The victory came as Albazi’s fifth in the Octagon since his debut back in 2020.

Brandon Moreno takes on Amir Albazi at UFC Mexico City

ESPN Deportes reporter, Carlos Contreras Legaspi was first to report the targeted bout between Brandon Moreno and Amir Albazi, before latter confirmation from Eurosport reporter, Marcel Dorff, who confirmed the bout would take place on February 24. in a Mexico City return for the UFC. 

Moreno, a former two-time undisputed flyweight champion under the banner of the UFC, first captured Octagon spoils with a stunning rear-naked choke submission win over incoming UFC Austin feature, Deiveson Figueriedo back in 2021, before dropping the title in a third fight against the Brazilian the following January.

Minting himself as the interim flyweight titleholder with a vicious body kick KO win over Kara-France in the pair’s rematch, Moreno would land a doctor’s stoppage TKO win over Figueriedo in the pair’s fourth fight in January of last year, before losing his title to Pantoja in the summer. 

17-1 as a professional, former Brave CF standout, Albazi debuted in the UFC with a rear-naked choke submission win over Malcolm Gordon, before then lodging a decision win over Zhalgas Zhumagulov in his sophomore outing.

In three consecutive victories since then, Albazi, 30, has defeated Francisco Figueriedo, Alessandro Costa, and the aforenoted, Kara-France. 

Who wins at UFC Mexico City: Brandon Moreno or Amir Albazi?

Israel Adesanya calls out judges for controversial split decision at UFC Vegas 74: ‘F*ck them c*nts’

Israel AdesanyaIsrael Adesanya was left absolutely fuming after teammate Kai Kara-France came up short on the judges’ scorecards Saturday night. On the cusp of a bantamweight world title fight, Kara-France entered the UFC Vegas 74 headliner determined to make a statement en route to an inevitable championship opportunity. Instead, ‘Don’t Blink’ saw his opponent, Amir Albazi, […]

Israel Adesanya

Israel Adesanya was left absolutely fuming after teammate Kai Kara-France came up short on the judges’ scorecards Saturday night.

On the cusp of a bantamweight world title fight, Kara-France entered the UFC Vegas 74 headliner determined to make a statement en route to an inevitable championship opportunity. Instead, ‘Don’t Blink’ saw his opponent, Amir Albazi, leave Las Vegas with the biggest win of his career via a split decision. Fans online were seemingly split with many suggesting Albazi’s control time was the deciding factor despite Kara-France landing 56 more significant strikes throughout the 25-minute duration.

Reacting to the somewhat controversial decision, Israel Adesanya unleashed his wrath on embattled judges Chris Lee and Sal D’Amato who awarded Albazi the win with identical 48-47 scores.

“Nah bro…F*ck yous!!!” Adesanya wrote on Twitter in the first of four scathing tweets. He followed that up with another post that took aim at the two judges in question. “Fire Chris Lee & Sal Deez nuts,” Adesanya continued in a second message.

‘The Last Stylebender’ was far from done.

“I tweeted that before even seeing the scorecards because I knew them two will f*ck it up!!” Adesanya wrote in a third tweet. “How many times will they rob athletes of their moments of glory, of [sic] their money, their livelihood for their family? F*ck them c*nts, they need to expire quickly and go. Mike Bell was the only judge to score this properly, the other two deff need to disappear.”

Israel Adesanya posted a fourth, and much more tame tweet, suggesting that judges should publicly address their reasoning behind questionable scores while facing consequences for handing fights to competitors that clearly didn’t earn the victory.

“Start interviewing the judges after fights,” Adesanya wrote. “Hold them accountable for their work.”

Israel Adesanya May Be Biased, but Is He Wrong?

Of course, there is a bit of bias as Israel Adesanya and Kai Kara-France are both teammates under the City Kickboxing banner in New Zealand. ‘Stylebender’ had a similar response following the loss of teammate Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 284 in February. The Great’ went toe-to-toe with reigning lightweight champion Islam Makhachev for five rounds and in the eyes of many, did more than enough damage to secure a win over the Dagestani destroyer.

In Saturday’s main event, Amir Albazi had 6:10 of control time during the 25-minute affair but failed to do any damage aside from a very tight rear-naked choke submission attempt that Kara-France was able to work his way out of. When it comes to the top criteria, damage, ‘Don’t Blink’ was significantly ahead. The Kiwi landed 99 significant strikes compared to 43 from Albazi. Total strikes were even further apart with Kara-Frace landing 133 versus 64. Kara-France also scored two takedowns in two attempts while Albazi officially landed one out of nine. Kara France also out-landed Albazi in all five rounds.

Do you agree with Israel Adesanya’s assessment of last night’s decision?

Amir Albazi snags split decision win over Kai Kara-France, calls for flyweight title shot – UFC Vegas 74 Highlights

Kai Kara-FranceKai Kara-France and Amir Albazi put on a show in the UFC Vegas 74 main event. The two top-10 flyweight standouts went toe-to-toe for a full 25 minutes on Saturday night at The APEX, but only one man was able to walk out with his hand raised and a potential title opportunity in his future. […]

Kai Kara-France

Kai Kara-France and Amir Albazi put on a show in the UFC Vegas 74 main event.

The two top-10 flyweight standouts went toe-to-toe for a full 25 minutes on Saturday night at The APEX, but only one man was able to walk out with his hand raised and a potential title opportunity in his future. Kai Kara-France and Albazi put on a five-round striking clinic that saw each fighter find their share of moments, but it was Kara-Frace who had the superior movement, allowing him to jump ahead early in the significant strike totals.

While the Kiwi had striking totals on his side, Albazi was arguably landing the bigger blows, making the scorecards relatively unpredictable after the first two rounds. ‘The Prince’ was able to get things down to the ground in round three, taking Kara-France’s back and slapping on a body lock. With less than a minute to go, Kara-France was able to fight back up to his feet and reverse position, sliding into the guard of Albazi where he remained for the final 30 seconds of the third.

With the fourth round being incredibly close, both fighters came out with a sense of urgency in the fifth and final round. Kara-France went on the attack early prompting Albazi to change levels and work for a takedown but was unsuccessful in taking things to the ground. The final three minutes saw both fighters letting their hands go and giving the fans in Las Vegas a show. By the time the final bell rang, Kara-France had swelled to a -400 favorite after landing 38 more significant strikes than the opposition, but did the judges see it that way?

Official Result: Amir Albazi def. Kai Kara-France via split decision (47-48, 48-47, 48-47)

Check Out Highlights From Kai Kara-France vs. Amir Albazi at UFC Vegas 74 Below:

Amir Albazi wraps first round rear-naked choke on Francisco Figueiredo – UFC 278 Highlights

Amir AlbaziBellator and Brave CF flyweight veteran, Amir Albazi continues and improves on his undefeated run in the UFC since his landing with the organization — wrapping a first round rear-naked choke on Francisco Figueiredo on the preliminary card of UFC 278. Albazi, who entered tonight’s preliminary card clash with Figueiredo as the #11 ranked flyweight […]

Amir Albazi

Bellator and Brave CF flyweight veteran, Amir Albazi continues and improves on his undefeated run in the UFC since his landing with the organization — wrapping a first round rear-naked choke on Francisco Figueiredo on the preliminary card of UFC 278.

Albazi, who entered tonight’s preliminary card clash with Figueiredo as the #11 ranked flyweight contender, landed prior victories over the duo of Zhalgas Zhumagulov, and Malcolm Gordon during his first two Octagon walks.

The Iraqi-born flyweight contender managed to turn in his third straight UFC victory tonight, however, taking Figueiredo, the younger brother of flyweight champion, Deiveson Figueiredo’s back during a first round scramble — almost immediately jumping onto a rear-naked choke.

Below, catch the highlights from Amir Albazi’s first round win over Francisco Figueiredo