Brandon Moreno to face Amir Albazi in new main event of UFC Edmonton card

Brandon Moreno poses on the scale during a ceremonial weigh-in for the UFC 290 mixed martial arts event, Friday, July 7, 2023, in Las Vegas. (Steve Marcus/Las Vegas Sun via AP)

Former flyweight champion Brandon (The Assassin Baby) Moreno will take on No. 3 contender Amir (The Prince) Albazi in the main event of a UFC Fight Night card on Nov. 2 in Edmonton.

A flyweight bout between No. 3 Erin (Cold Blooded) Blanchfield and No. 5 Rose (Thug) Namajunas, previously announced as the marquee bout at Rogers Place, is now the five-round co-main event. Namajunas, an American like Blanchfield, is a former two-time strawweight titleholder.

UFC president Dana White announced the changes via social media Tuesday.

Also added to the card is a heavyweight bout between American Derrick (The Black Beast) Lewis and unbeaten Brazilian Jhonata Diniz.

Canadians on the card include Chad (The Monster) Anheliger, Marc-Andre (Power Bar) Barriault, Jamey-Lyn Horth, Jasmine Jasudavicius, Charles (Air) Jourdain, (Proper) Mike Malott and Aiemann Zahabi. The show also features Serhiy Sidey, who was born in Ukraine but now fights out of Burlington, Ont., and Brazilian-born Caio (Bigfoot) Machado who fights out of Vancouver.

Moreno, ranked second among 125-pound contenders, was the UFC's first Mexican-born champion and has the second-most finishes in UFC flyweight history.

Moreno (21-8-2) has lost his last two fights, beaten by American Brandon (Raw Dawg) Royval in February after being dethroned by Alexandre (The Cannibal) Pantoja via split decision at UFC 290 in July 2023.

Moreno battled Brazil's Deiveson Figueredo four times for the flyweight title, winning twice including their final meeting in January 2023.

Iraq's Albazi (17-1-0) has won six straight including a split decision over Kai Kara-France last time out in June 2023. He was due to face Moreno in February but was sidelined by a neck injury with Royval replacing him.

Blanchfield (12-2-0) saw a nine-fight win streak, which included six UFC bouts, end in March in a decision loss to France's Manon (The Beast) Fiorot. Namajunas (13-6-0) has won two in a row since losing to Fiorot in September 2023.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 3, 2024.