Brandon Moreno and Amir Albazi are ranked No. 2 and No. 3, respectively, within the UFC’s official flyweight rankings, however the hole between their expertise is much wider than the numbers counsel. Moreno outclassed Albazi throughout 25 minutes of their UFC Battle Night time important occasion en path to victory.
Moreno and Albazi had issues to show to themselves in Edmonton on Saturday. This was Moreno’s first struggle following a self-imposed eight-month hiatus to heal from burnout and lingering accidents. Albazi returned to motion after a 17-month absence, throughout which he required coronary heart and neck surgical procedure.
Moreno lit up Albazi with superior kickboxing and fended off nearly all takedown makes an attempt. UFC’s quantity crunchers credited Albazi for a takedown in Spherical 2, however Moreno bounced again to his toes so shortly that it did not matter. Moreno’s dominance tapered off barely in Spherical 4, the one spherical you could possibly conceivably give to Albazi, however he received proper again on the bike. Moreno’s largest second got here in Spherical 5 the place he rocked Albazi with a left hook and bloodied him. Albazi pointed to the middle of the Octagon within the remaining 30 seconds however shortly retreated beneath fireplace from Moreno, which included a rolling axe kick.
MORENO PUT ON A SHOW TO END THE FIGHT
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“I really feel superb, I really feel incredible. I really feel like a brand new individual,” former UFC flyweight champion Moreno mentioned throughout his post-fight interview. “I wish to be as much as the highest once more. I need my title again. It is a reminder to the division. I by no means say something. I am all the time very respectful to everybody. However, man, give me somebody within the cage and I will be that badass.”
Moren broke the UFC flyweight report for most important strikes landed, crossing the 1,100 mark to maneuver forward of just lately retired former champion Demetrious Johnson (1,059 complete important strikes).
Moreno (21-8-2) seemed rejuvenated after consecutive losses to flyweight champ Alexandre Pantoja and Brandon Royval. Albazi (17-2) suffered his first UFC loss after racking up 5 wins towards Kai Kara-France and Francisco Figueiredo, amongst others.
