The bout also represented a huge chance for Almabayev to vault into flyweight title contention himself, but Ag Fight<\/a> reports that the 32-year-old has unfortunately pulled out of UFC Mexico after sustaining an injury. <\/p>\n Asu Almabayev Withdraws From UFC Mexico<\/p>\n Currently the UFC\u2019s #7-ranked flyweight contender, Almabayev joined the promotion in 2023 and earned a \u201cPerformance of the Night\u201d bonus for his debut victory over Ode Osbourne, which came via submission in the second round. <\/p>\n READ MORE: UFC Reveals Incredible Main Event & Full Card for UFC Fight Night London<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cZulfikar\u201d went 3-0 the following to start his UFC career with four-straight wins and extend his overall win streak to an impressive 17 fights. That run came to an end in his first outing of 2025, as the 32-year-old was stopped by Manel Kape<\/a> in the third round of his first UFC Fight Night main event. <\/p>\n Asu Almabayev (blue gloves) fights CJ Vergara (red gloves) during UFC 299 at Kaseya Center. | Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports<\/p>\n Almabayev rebounded in July with a unanimous decision over Jose Ochoa, and in November he scored arguably the biggest win of his UFC career when he submitted perennial top-ranked flyweight Alex Perez with a guillotine choke in the third round. <\/p>\n Brandon Moreno Ended 2025 With Controversial Loss<\/p>\n Moreno sits two spots ahead of Almabayev at #5 in the UFC flyweight rankings and was on a two-fight winning streak himself before suffering a somewhat-controversial loss to Tatsuro Taira at UFC 323 to close out last year. <\/p>\n READ MORE: Unbeaten UFC Star That Should Fight Islam Makhachev Reveals Devastating Injury Update<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cThe Assassin Baby\u201d is now well over two years removed from his second stint with the UFC flyweight belt, which he lost to Alexandre Pantoja<\/a> via split decision at UFC 290. Moreno followed that result with another split decision loss to Brandon Royval before he rebounded with back-to-back victories over Amir Albazi and former title challenger Steve Erceg. <\/p>\n Brandon Moreno (red gloves) celebrates after defeating Amir Albazi (not pictured) in a flyweight bout during UFC Fight Night at Rogers Place. | Perry Nelson-Imagn Images<\/p>\n The UFC would presumably like to try and keep Moreno on UFC Mexico given his immense popularity in his home country. The promotion may be hard-pressed to find a suitable replacement on less than a months\u2019 notice though, and unfortunately fans already expressed some displeasure with the state of the UFC Mexico card <\/a>when Macy Chiasson vs. Ailin Perez was revealed as the night\u2019s co-main event. <\/p>\n UFC Mexico Fight Card<\/p>\n \u2022\tCo-Main Event: Macy Chiasson vs. Ailin Perez <\/p>\n \u2022\tDaniel Zellhuber vs. King Green<\/p>\n \u2022\tMarlon Vera vs. David Martinez<\/p>\n \u2022\tEdgar Chairez vs. Felipe Bunes<\/p>\n \u2022\tImanol Rodriguez vs. Kevin Borjas<\/p>\n \u2022\tJose Medina vs. Ryan Gandra<\/p>\n \u2022\tWes Schultz vs. Damian Pinas<\/p>\n \u2022\tSantiago Luna vs. Angel Pacheco<\/p>\n \u2022\tChristian Qui\u00f1onez vs. Kris Moutinho<\/p>\n \u2022\tErnesta Kareckaite vs. Sofia Montenegro<\/p>\n \u2022\tDouglas Silva de Andrade vs. Javier Reyes<\/p>\n \u2022\tErik Silva vs. Francis Marshall<\/p>\n More MMA Knockout News<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0UFC Champ Kayla Harrison Reveals Surgery Scar After Injury Delayed Amanda Nunes Fight<\/a><\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0UFC Hall of Famer Reveals Opponent for UFC 327 Fight After Postponing Retirement<\/a><\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0Ex-MMA Champion Shockingly Exits UFC Following Disappointing Octagon Run<\/a><\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0Top-Ranked UFC Fighter Gets 9-Month Suspension for Drug Test That Scrapped Last Fight<\/a><\/p>\n Stick with\u00a0MMAKnockout<\/a>\u00a0for more FREE coverage of the UFC and MMA.<\/p>\n Follow MMAKnockout on\u00a0Facebook<\/a>,\u00a0Twitter<\/a>, and\u00a0Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"Asu](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/01kghv673t3sx0q9ftcb.jpg\" "\\"Asu")
<\/p>\n![\"Brandon](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/01kghv825yw9ps0zqpdc.jpg\" "\\"Brandon")
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