Amir Albazi has been forced out of his highly anticipated bout against Brandon Moreno at UFC Mexico City due to a neck injury. Moreno will now face Brandon Royval in the main event.
Taking to X, formerly known as Twitter, Albazi announced his withdrawal from the bout.
"I’m out of the fight against Moreno 24th of February. I have been dealing with a serious neck injury the past weeks. After some scans the UFC doctors decided to pull me out of the fight immediately. I want to apologize to the fans and the @ufc. I will be back inshallah"
Although gutting for Albazi, Royval has pounced at the opportunity to rectify his loss against Brandon Moreno when two fought back in 2020.
Since the bout, Royval holds a modest 3-2 record. His two losses both coming against Alexandre Pantoja; his most recent being a bout for the Flyweight championship. Since signing with the UFC in 2020, ‘Raw Dawg’ took back-to-back submission victories against Tim Elliott and Kai Kara-France before coming up short in contests against Brandon Moreno and Alexandre Pantoja. A three fight win streak, defeating Rogerio Bontorin, Matt Schnell and Matheus Nicolau led to his title fight and rematch with Pantoja in his maiden UFC title fight,
The bout will mark Moreno’s first time back in the cage since losing the Flyweight strap to Pantoja at UFC 290. Having successfully beaten Kai Kara-France at UFC 277 for the Interim title, Moreno then unified his title in a fourth bout with Deiveson Figueiredo at UFC 283. The Mexican then looked to defend his belt against Pantoja but came up short. ‘The Baby Assassin’ has had a wild ride since signing with the UFC following a spell on The Ultimate Fighter. A three fight win streak led to his first UFC main event against Sergio Pettis at UFC Fight Night 114. Although coming up short against Pettis, Moreno gained a lot of plaudits following the 5 round war. After dropping a decision loss to Pantoja, the Mexican then went on a tear, going on a 5 fight unbeaten run. This then led to his the first of four incredible bouts against Deiveson Figueiredo.
The Flyweight contest between Moreno and Royval could very well decide who is the next athlete to test their skills against the champion. UFC Mexico City will take place on February 24th in the Arena CDMX.
