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Almabayev is 6-1 in the UFC. | Getty/UFC
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Almabayev has been forced to withdraw from the
UFC Mexico City headliner a little more than three weeks before
the event.
Almabayev revealed that he suffered a hand injury in a post on
Instagram, confirming an Ag.Fight report that the Kazakh fighter had been
forced to withdraw from a proposed flyweight booking against
ex-UFC
champion Brandon
Moreno. It is currently unclear if Moreno, a Mexico native,
will remain on the Feb. 28 card against a replacement opponent.
‘Many Interesting Battles Ahead’
“The situation is like this: I injured my hand two days before our
flight,” Almabayev wrote on Instagram (via Google Translate). “I
don’t want to talk about the injury, I’ve never refused a fight, no
matter who I fight, no matter what the situation, the preparation
is at a good level, it’s done, no matter how much you kick, I can’t
change it.
“I still have five fights left in this [organization]. I’ve been
extended for a new contract. There are still many interesting
battles ahead.”
Almabayev has been victorious in six of his seven Octagon
appearances, with his lone loss coming against Manel Kape
in March 2025. The 32-year-old rebounded from that defeat to post
back-to-back triumphs over Jose Ochoa
and Alex
Perez to close out his 2025 campaign. The
Brave Combat Federation and M-1 Global
veteran owns a 23-3 career mark since beginning his professional
tenure in 2013.
Moreno had a two-bout winning streak snapped in his last outing,
when he suffered a secondp-round technical knockout loss to
Tatsuro
Taira at UFC 325 this past December. Prior to that the two-time
flyweight king had earned consecutive five-round verdicts over
Amir
Albazi and Steve
Erceg.
UFC Mexico City — also known as UFC Fight Night 268 — takes place
at Arena CDMX in Mexico City, Mexico and also includes a
bantamweight clash pitting Marlon Vera
against David
Martinez in the evening’s co-main event.