Latest news with #AmirAlbazi
Forbes
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- Forbes
UFC Announces First Seven Fights For UFC Vegas 108 Fight Card
EDMONTON, ALBERTA - NOVEMBER 02: Amir Albazi of Iraq prepares to face Brandon Moreno of Mexico in a ... More flyweight fight during the UFC Fight Night event at Rogers Place on November 02, 2024 in Edmonton, Alberta. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC) Two highly-ranked flyweights headline the UFC Vegas 108 fight card, which takes place on August 2 at UFC Apex in Las Vegas. In that matchup, Amir Albazi and Tatsuro Taira look to bounce back from the first losses of their UFC careers. In addition to Albazi vs. Taira, the UFC has announced six other fights for the upcoming UFC Fight Night event. UFC Vegas 108 marks the first UFC fight card at the Apex since UFC Vegas 107 on May 31. Amir Albazi vs. Tatsuro Taira - Flyweight Karol Rosa vs. Nora Cornolle - Women's Bantamweight Nick Klein vs. Andrey Pulyaev - Middleweight Rodolfo Vieira vs. Tresean Gore - Middleweight Andre Lima vs. Felipe Burns - Flyweight Piera Rodriguez vs. Ketlen Souza - Strawweight Azamat Bekoev vs. Torrez Finney - Middleweight Saturday, August 2, 2025 UFC Apex in Las Vegas, NV Prelims: 4:00 p.m. ET Main Card: 6:00 p.m. ET ESPN and ESPN+ LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - JUNE 03: Amir Albazi of Iraq is introduced by Bruce Buffer prior to his ... More flyweight bout against Kai Kara-France of New Zealand during the UFC Fight Night event at UFC APEX on June 03, 2023 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images) Amir Albazi (17-2) enters UFC Vegas 108 as the No. 3 fighter in the UFC's flyweight division. Albazi made his UFC debut as a short-notice replacement in a bantamweight scrap against Malcolm Gordon in July 2020. Albazi won that matchup via submission. He then dropped to flyweight for his next outing, a January 2021 decision win over Zhalgas Zhumagulov. Wins over Francisco Figueiredo, Alessandro Costa, and Kai Kara-France followed, which earned him a February booking opposite former UFC flyweight champ Brandon Moreno. Albazi was forced from that card due to a neck injury. At the time, Albazi wrote on Twitter, '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.' A healthy Albazi finally got his shot at Moreno in November 2024 in a main event matchup in Edmonton. Moreno won that contest via unanimous decision, handing Albazi his first loss since April 2019 when he was with Brave CF. LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - OCTOBER 12: Tatsuro Taira of Japan prepares to face Brandon Royval in a ... More flyweight fight during the UFC Fight Night event at UFC APEX on October 12, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC) Taira (16-1) has risen up the UFC flyweight ranks fairly quickly. He joined the UFC in May 2022 with a record of 10-0, and after winning the Shooto flyweight title. Taira opened his UFC career with a unanimous decision win over Carlos Candelario in May 2022. He followed that with back-to-back submission wins in contests where he earned 'Performance of the Night' bonuses, defeating C.J. Vergara and Jesús Santos Aguilar. Wins over Edgar Chairez and Carlos Hernandez in 2023 followed. In June, Taira got the first true test of his UFC career when he faced Alex Perez in a main event on a UFC Fight Night card at the Apex. At the time, Taira was the No. 13 ranked fighter in the UFC's flyweight division, and Perez, who had fought Deiveson Figueiredo for the UFC 125-pound title in 2020, was ranked No. 5. Taira won that bout via TKO due to a knee injury. The fight ended when Taira took the back of his opponent in the center of the Octagon and forced him to the mat, putting enormous pressure on Perez's knee and causing an injury that brought the fight to a halt in the second stanza. From all appearances, and judging from his comments after the victory, the move that finished the contest was a designed technique. In October, the 25-year-old Taira faced former UFC flyweight title challenger Brandon Royval in the main event of a UFC Fight Night at the Apex in Las Vegas. The fight was a close one, but Royval earned the split decision win, handing Taira the first loss of his MMA career. Taira is the No. 5 ranked UFC flyweight. We will have more on the UFC Nashville fight card as information becomes available.
USA Today
14-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
UFC books Amir Albazi vs. Tatsuro Taira main event
UFC books Amir Albazi vs. Tatsuro Taira main event Flyweight contenders will collide in the UFC Fight Night main event Aug. 2 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Both looking to bounce back from losses, Amir Albazi and Tatsuro Taira will meet in a five-round bout. Two people with knowledge of the situation confirmed the matchup to MMA Junkie after Iridium Sports Agency, which represents Taira, announced it Wednesday on social media. Albazi (17-2 MMA, 5-1 UFC) recorded his first UFC loss in November when he was defeated by unanimous decision by Brandon Moreno. The defeat came after wins over Malcolm Gordon, Zhalgas Zhumagulov, Francisco Figueiredo, Alessandro Costa, and Kai Kara-France. Taira (16-1 MMA, 6-1 UFC) lost a split decision to Brandon Rovval in October – his first UFC defeat. Prior to the loss, Taira defeated Carlos Candelario, C.J. Vergara, Jesus Aguilar, Edgar Chairez, Carlos Hernandez, and Alex Perez. With the addition, the UFC Fight Night lineup for Aug. 2 includes:
Forbes
23-03-2025
- Sport
- Forbes
UFC Mexico City 2025 Fight Card: Brandon Moreno Vs. Steve Erceg
EDMONTON, ALBERTA - NOVEMBER 02: Brandon Moreno of Mexico prepares to face Amir Albazi of Iraq in a ... More flyweight fight during the UFC Fight Night event at Rogers Place on November 02, 2024 in Edmonton, Alberta. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC) The UFC is back in Mexico City for this week's UFC Fight Night Card, which takes place on Saturday, March 29, from Arena CDMX. The main event features former two-time UFC flyweight champion against recent UFC flyweight title challenger Steve Erceg. Moreno is coming off a decision win over Amir Albazi, which ended his two-fight losing skid. Meanwhile, Erceg is looking to end a two-fight losing skid of his own heading into the UFC Mexico City headliner. Manuel Torres faces Drew Dober in a lightweight bout in the evening's co-main event. Below, we look at the pertinent information for the UFC Mexico City fight card. Brandon Moreno vs. Steve Erceg Manuel Torres vs. Drew Dober Kelvin Gastelum vs. Joe Pyfer Raul Rosas Jr. vs. Vince Morales David Martínez vs. Saimon Oliveira Ronaldo Rodríguez vs. Kevin Borjas Édgar Cháirez vs. C.J. Vergara José Daniel Medina vs. Ateba Abega Gautier Christian Rodriguez vs. Melquizael Costa Loopy Godinez vs. Julia Polastri Rafa García vs. Vinc Pichel Jamall Emmers vs. Gabriel Miranda MarQuel Mederos vs. Austin Hubbard EDMONTON, ALBERTA - NOVEMBER 02: Brandon Moreno of Mexico reacts after a unanimous decision victory ... More against Amir Albazi of Iraq in a flyweight fight during the UFC Fight Night event at Rogers Place on November 02, 2024 in Edmonton, Alberta. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC) Moreno (22-8-2) is the No. 2 fighter in the official UFC flyweight rankings. The 30-year-old is a former two-time UFC 125-pound champion. Moreno's first title reign began in June 2021 with a submission win over Deiveson Figueiredo at UFC 263. He returned the title to Figueiredo in their UFC 270 rematch, losing that January 2022 contest via decision. Moreno then won the interim flyweight belt in July 2022 with a UFC 277 TKO triumph over Kai Kara-France. In January 2023, Moreno regained the undisputed UFC title from Figueiredo with a TKO victory at UFC 283. Like his first title run, Moreno's second stint with the 125-pound ended without him making a successful defense. Alexandre Pantoja took the belt from him in July 2023 via split decision. The ex-champ then lost a split decision to Brandon Royval in February 2024. Moreno bounced back from that loss with a decision win over Amir Albazi in the main event of a UFC Fight Night event in Edmonton in November. The ex-champ has not fought since defeating Albazi. PERTH, AUSTRALIA - AUGUST 18: Steve Erceg of Australia prepares to face Kai Kara-France of New ... More Zealand in a flyweight fight during the UFC 305 event at RAC Arena on August 18, 2024 in Perth, Australia. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC) Steve Erceg (12-3) has not been with the UFC long. The fighter from Perth, Australia, has just five UFC bouts to his name, including a surprise title fight in May 2024. Erceg was 9-1 when he made his UFC debut at UFC 289 in June 2023. Despite fighting on the early prelims of that card and not getting a finish, Erceg picked up a 'Performance of the Night' bonus for a unanimous decision win that night over David Dvorak. That win put Erceg into the top 15 of the UFC's 125-pound division. In his next outing, Erceg faced Alessandro Costa in the 'featured prelim' spot of the UFC 295 fight card. Erceg again picked up a unanimous decision win on that night. After defeating Costa, Erceg moved up to No. 12 in the division. For his next scrap, Erceg faced Matt Schnell in March of this year. Erceg won that fight and his second 'Performance of the Night' bonus with a second-round knockout of Schnell. The win put him in the top 10 of the division, and thanks to some booking quirks, it earned him a shot at Pantoja's title in the top spot of the UFC 301 fight card. Erceg handled himself well against Pantoja but lost to the champ by decision in their May 2024 matchup. Erceg next faced Kai Kara-France in the co-main event of UFC 305, a fight that Kara-France won via first-round TKO. Erceg enters UFC Mexico City as the No. 8 ranked UFC flyweight. Saturday, March 29, 2025 Arena CDMX in Mexico City, Mexico Full fight card streams on ESPN+ and airs on ESPN2 Prelims: 4:00 p.m. ET Main Card: 7:00 p.m. ET We will have more on the UFC London 2025 fight card, including betting odds and predictions as fight night nears.
