Perennial top UFC flyweight contender Alex Perez will reportedly make his return from a knee injury to face Asu Almabayev at the promotion’s first event in Qatar.
The UFC returned to Shanghai to close out August before a rare off week, and this Saturday the promotion heads back to Paris as part of a huge slate of international events during the final quarter of 2025.
A UFC Fight Night event on November 22 will mark the UFC’s first visit to Qatar, and it looks like the card has its first major fight booked with a battle between top-ranked flyweight contenders Perez and Almabayev.
First reported by Sport Kor, the high-profile flyweight matchup will see #8-ranked Perez return to action for the first time since he suffered a knee injury during a UFC Fight Night main event against Tatsuro Taira in June of last year.
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A contract winner on the inaugural season of Dana White’s Contender Series back in 2017, Perez has been a staple of the UFC’s flyweight rankings over the last few years but has unfortunately dealt with significant periods of inactivity due to injuries.
Alex Perez celebrates after his TKO victory over Jussier Formiga in their flyweight bout during UFC 250 at the UFC APEX. / Handout Photo-Imagn Images
The 33-year-old competed three times in 2024 and earned a “Performance of the Night” bonus for knocking out Matheus Nicolau in between losses to Muhammad Mokaev and Taira. He was previously scheduled to return against former flyweight title challenger Steve Erceg last month before withdrawing from the matchup.
Ranked one spot behind Perez at #9 in the UFC flyweight division, Almabayev stormed into the ranks of the promotion’s 125 lbs. elite with four-straight wins starting with a submission victory against Ode Osbourne in 2023.
“Zulfikar” took unanimous decisions over CJ Vergara, Jose Johnson, and the aforementioned Nicolau in 2024, and the 31-year-old stepped up for a huge opportunity in March when he replaced Brandon Royval to take on Manel Kape in a UFC Fight Night main event.
Asu Almabayev (blue gloves) fights CJ Vergara (red gloves) during UFC 299 at Kayesa Center. / Sam Navarro-Imagn Images
Almabayev had previously been booked to fight two other opponents on the same event before losing to Kape via TKO in the third round, but the Kazakh flyweight rebounded from that result when he defeated Jose Ochoa at UFC Abu Dhabi in July.
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Perez vs. Almabayev is just the second fight to be added to UFC Qatar after a recently-reported light heavyweight bout between Abdul Kakhman Yakhyaev and Raffael Cerqueira, and fans can expect that more matchups will be announced for the card in the coming weeks.
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