The former two-time UFC flyweight champion Brandon Moreno is back this Saturday night when the Octagon touches down in Edmonton.
In the main event of the evening, he takes on one of the rising contenders at flyweight in Amir Albazi who is undefeated since signing with the UFC.
The two men were expected to meet earlier this year in Mexico City until Albazi withdrew due to a neck injury that ended up causing him significant health issues.
Instead, Moreno stayed on the card and was beaten by Brandon Royval meaning that he was unable to bounce back from his losing his belt to Alexandre Pantoja.
After that fight, "The Assassin Baby" said that he would be looking to take some time off before making his return at a later date.
Moreno spoke in his media day interviews about how it was hard to keep to his word even if it was massively beneficial for him.
"I think it's very easy man, like I'm a competitor. So when I decide to take a little break of competition, everything was fine in that moment but after that, like three weeks after, I'm starting to think again like damn, I want to fight. I want to fight, I want to fight but then is when my wife, my family help me a lot with that. My wife and my coach is like, 'Hey, you have to take a break. You have to take it serious, you have to rest. Be with your family, be with your daughters. Make more nice moments with them first.' So I have to calm myself. I had this fight with myself in my mind to take this break serious."
Now, Moreno is prepared to jump right back into the thick of it with a renewed energy and motivation.
Handing Albazi his first defeat inside the Octagon won't be easy and despite all the high level opposition that he's faced in the past, Moreno isn't underestimating him for a single second.
"Yeah, always. I respect every one of my opponents and I'm expecting the best of them. I'm expecting the best from Amir Albazi. I know he's very motivated, he's ready to win, he wants the title and man, I feel ready for that. Just my energy now feels different man."
Both men have different stakes hanging over this fight but it's a classic narrative of Albazi looking for his biggest win to date whilst Moreno looks to show that he can still hang with the new contenders on the block.
Watch the full media day interviews below:
