UFC Edmonton Main Event Best Bet
For the second time this year, the UFC returns to the Great White North. This time it’s a fight night headed to Edmonton with a double five-round headliner with a pair of flyweight matchups. Co-main event honors go to the women as former straw weight champion, Rose Namajunas, looks to hand Erin Blanchfield a second consecutive loss. The men take center stage in the main event with another former champion looking to slow down a rising contender. Read more UFC Edmonton main event best bet.
Brandon Moreno hopes to buck a two-fight losing streak and come back a new fighter after a longer-than-normal layoff.
Amir Albazi aims for a sixth UFC win in as many fights, but more importantly stamping himself as the next contender for the title.
Will the veteran assert himself back into title talks? Or will Albazi take the torch and run with it to a title shot? Read on to see how these flyweights square up and who should come out on top.
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Brandon Moreno
Moreno’s last 10 fights have been fought against 5 different opponents, obviously the highest profile of which was his four fights against Deiveson Figueiredo. He put a stamp on that rivalry by defeating him by TKO in January 2023. Unfortunately, that win would be his last as he ended up losing a split decision to a former foe, Alexandre Pantoja, and lost his title in the process.
That was followed up with another split decision loss to another former foe, Brandon Royval, which took place back in February. It appears Moreno was deflated and was not fighting like himself that night, hence his willingness to sit on the sidelines for close to 8 months leading up to this weekend’s clash.
Striking has largely been the winning recipe for Moreno since returning to the UFC in late 2019. He uses combinations well and his footwork has allowed him to land a variety of shots from different angles.
Takedown defense was a huge issue for him in the past and it’s something he continues to work on to this day to help him keep fights in a realm where he feels most effective. His grappling is not that bad either, something he can lean on if he feels his striking is not working that well. Lastly, his cardio is very much on point to allow him to compete at a high level for a full 25 minutes if that’s what is required.
Amir Albazi
A 12-1 record brought Albazi into the UFC back in 2020, with his only defeat coming to former UFC fighter, Jose Torres. Since entering the UFC, Albazi has been nothing short of impressive, although his last win over Kara-France came with some controversy. Many felt Kara-France did enough to win rounds 1, 4, and 5, but that was not the case for the two judges who had it in Albazi’s favor. He managed to keep the judges out of it in 3 of his 5 UFC wins, which is worth praise at 125lbs.
Getting fights to the ground is the main path of attack for Albazi, normally setting up his entries well and doing good with his control. His striking is slowly coming together but it’s clear that’s where he seems most uncomfortable.
Utilizing a grapple-heavy approach is exhausting and I think that was on display in his last fight against Kara-France when he was unable to get to his grappling as effectively as he did earlier in the fight. Albazi turned 31 roughly a week before this fight, so it’s clear he is in his prime, it would just be nice to see him a little more active as this will be his first taste of action since June 2023.
The Pick
I believe the layoff for Moreno will turn out to be a positive thing and just given from what we’ve seen in his interviews this week, he looks to have the fire back. Albazi’s time off was due to dealing with a neck injury, which is not a great injury to come back from fighting at a high level. Regardless, I feel this is a fight that we’ll see Moreno’s five-round experience advantage come through along with his cardio and striking advantage.
If we see the diverse striking style of Moreno that we’ve seen in the past, it will be a tough night for Albazi. I have no doubt Albazi will land some takedowns and get some control time, but I feel Moreno can do enough in 3 of the 5 rounds by out damaging and out working Albazi. The current line on Moreno is probably the max I would pay on him, but this is a fight that largely favors him, and he should get the job done on the scorecards
