At the UFC Edmonton official weigh-ins, all 28 fighters on Saturday’s fight card step on the scale early Friday morning in Edmonton, Canada. Watch the official weigh-ins above, courtesy of MMA Junkie.
In the main event, two-time UFC featherweight champion Brandon Moreno fights Amir Albazi, a top contender yet to taste defeat inside the octagon. Moreno looks to rebound from back-to-back split decision losses to Alexandre Pantoja and Brandon Royval, while Albazi seeks to declare himself the No. 1 contender at 125 pounds in his first fight since June 2023.
The headliners can weigh no more than 126 pounds, the maximum limit for a non-title lightweight bout.
Advertisement
In the co-main event, former UFC strawweight champion Rose Namajunas (ranked No. 9) looks to win her third straight fight at flyweight when she takes on Erin Blanchfield (ranked No. 4). For Blanchfield, this is her chance to regain her spot in the contender line after suffering her first UFC loss at the hands of Manon Fiorot.
UFC Edmonton official weigh-ins are set to begin at 11 a.m. ET.
UFC returns this weekend with a Fight Night event in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, which features two very important flyweight bouts.
On the men’s side, former champion Brandon Moreno returns from a short break from MMA to welcome Amir Albazi back to competition after a series of surgeries. On the women’s side, ex-UFC strawweight titleholder Rose Namajunas looks to extend her winning streak by taking on young contender Erin Blanchfield.
Who will leave UFC Fight Night 246 with their hands raised? Could the respective winners in each flyweight bout potentially get the next shot at the title in their divisions?
Advertisement
MMA Junkie’s Brian “Goze” Garcia, Dan Tom, Danny Segura, and host “Gorgeous” George preview the main and co-main event of UFC Fight Night 246 and look at the potential upside for the winners of Saturday’s card.
Watch their discussion in the video above, and don’t miss this week’s complete episode of “Spinning Back Clique” below on YouTube.
“Spinning Back Clique” is released each Monday LIVE on MMA Junkie’s YouTube channel at noon ET. You can also find each episode on your favorite podcast platforms – including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, and more – on Tuesday mornings.
Advertisement
Be sure to visit the MMA Junkie Instagram page and YouTube channel to discuss this and more content with fans of mixed martial arts.
“When I was a kid, when I was a little boy, I always wanted to be a dinosaur. I wanted to be a Tyrannosaurus Rex more than anything in the world” pic.twitter.com/H0JrtcQF1v
Keyshawn Johnson dives into the challenges facing C.J. Stroud and the Houston Texans as they deal with a wave of injuries. He discusses Stroud’s potential to lead the team through this tough stretch and what it will take for him to rise to the occasion.
EDMONTON, Alberta, Canada – MMA Junkie is on scene and reporting live from Friday’s official UFC Fight Night 246 (ESPN+) fighter weigh-ins at the host hotel in Edmonton, which kick off at 11 a.m. ET (8 a.m. PT).
Among those weighing in are former flyweight champion Brandon Moreno (21-8-2 MMA, 9-5-2 UFC) and Amir Albazi (17-1 MMA, 5-0 UFC), who meet in the main event, and Erin Blanchfield (12-2 MMA, 6-1 UFC) and former women’s flyweight champ Rose Namajunas (13-6 MMA, 11-5 UFC), who fight in the co-feature.
The full UFC Fight Night 246 weigh-in results include:
Tom Aspinall is set to be a backup fighter at UFC 309, but he might also put in some work as a pitch man while he’s there.
When Jon Jones returns to defend his heavyweight title against fellow legend Stipe Miocic in the Nov. 16 main event at Madison Square Garden, Aspinall will be on hand to step in should either fighter be unable to make to the cage on fight night. Regardless of the result, Aspinall—the interim heavyweight champion—would like to face the winner, assuming that this doesn’t prove to be the final fight for both headliners.
Aspinall plans to do his part to convince either Jones or Miocic to put off their retirement plans and make the walk at least one more time.
“What’s the plan?” Aspinall said on his YouTube channel. “Turn up, do some media, cause a few scenes here and there, and try and make the winner stick around and fight me, hopefully.”
Advertisement
Since Jones’ most recent fight, a dominant win over Ciryl Gane in March 2023 to capture a vacant belt, Aspinall has claimed an interim title and successfully defended it once. Despite his success, the No. 1 heavyweight in MMA Fighting’s Global Rankings enters UFC 309 with no assurance he’ll get the chance to face the undisputed champion.
Aspinall is excited to see his potential opponents in action, at the very least. Having made his UFC debut in July 2020, Aspinall hasn’t had many opportunities to see Jones or Miocic from a cageside seat with the pair having fought a combined three times since then.
“Just see what happens, really,” Aspinall said. “I’m really interested how both guys look in the fight, that’s really interesting for me, up close. Especially up close because it’s a little bit different than on the TV. I want to go up close and see what these guys look like in live action, do you know what I mean?
“How are they moving? What are they doing? You can see little differences in real life than you can on the TV and I’m looking forward to that.”
The UFC is back in Canada for the first time since January, and in Edmonton for the first time since July 2019. Let’s hope for the country’s sake that it’s more like UFC 289 in Vancouver (all the Canadians won!) and less like UFC 297 (Jasmine Jasudavicius and Gillian Robertson delivered, all the Canadian men lost!).
Advertisement
There are NINE fighters representing Canada on Saturday. Surely, they’ll come out with a better than .500 record, right?
MMA Junkie analyst Dan Tom goes in-depth to break down the biggest fights in the UFC. Today, he takes a closer look at the UFC Fight Night 246 main event between Brandon Moreno and Amir Albazi.
Supplemental info: + Former UFC flyweight champion + Regional MMA titles + Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt + Multiple grappling accolades + 5 KO victories + 11 submission wins + 8 first-round finishes + Consistent pace and pressure + Accurate left hook ^ Coming forward or off the counter + Hard leg and head kicks ^ Works well off of the lead side + Improved wrestling ability + Good transitional grappler ^ Solid scrambles and submissions
Supplemental info: + Regional MMA titles + Brazilian jiu-jitsu purple belt + Multiple grappling accolades ^ In and out of the gi + 5 KO victories + 9 submission wins + 9 first-round finishes + KO power + Solid sense of range ^ Good eyes in exchanges + Dangerous right hand + Hard leg kicks + Solid wrestling ability + Excellent transitional grappler ^ Superb back control
Brandon Moreno vs. Amir Albazi point of interest: Flyweight fisticuffs
Jul 8, 2023; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Brandon Moreno (red gloves) fights Alexandre Pantoja (blue gloves) during UFC 290 at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports
The main event in Edmonton features a showdown between top-ranked flyweights, [autota]Brandon Moreno[/autotag] and Amir Albazi.
Although Albazi was a prospect who was initially hailed for his grappling accolades, the Iraq-born fighter has shown a natural aptitude for striking since stepping onto the UFC scene.
Albazi does well when it comes to keeping an active and educated lead hand, displaying a consistent feinting or prodding presence.
Advertisement
Offensively, this allows Albazi to connect punches and play off of prior work by hooking off of his jabs and so forth. Defensively, Albazi’s feinting presence helps draw out his opponent’s reactions which, in turn, can lead to some crucial counter opportunities.
Always dangerous to get too predictable with your head movement and counters. pic.twitter.com/iO7S5UaJWn
Albazi also appears to have excellent eyes in exchanges, which is something that surely contributes to his solid sense of range. I’ll be curious to see if Albazi looks to control leg kick traffic, but he, too, will need to be careful about the potential counters coming from Moreno’s way.
Moreno, who initially stepped onto the UFC scene as more of a grapple-first fighter, has since developed into a more complete and technical striking threat as he’s matured.
Advertisement
Still only 30 years of age, Moreno continues to display almost unshakable composure, win or lose, almost as if he’s determined to finish the fight stronger than his foe. But when you look beyond the brief, brash moments that allow his character to shine, you can see a more mature countering game at play.
Always a fan of the left hook (both coming forward and off the counter), Moreno does a much better job of variating both his timing and targets, often working them off of a jab. The theme of lead-side savvy travels fluently for the Mexican fighter in the way that Moreno attaches lead-leg kicks to his combinations when feeling in stride.
Moreno also has a knack for navigating extended exchanges, but I’m not sure how much he’ll want to do that given the potential level-changing counters that lay in wait.
Brandon Moreno vs. Amir Albazi breakdown: Potential grappling threats
Aug 20, 2022; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; Amir Albazi (red gloves) fights Francisco Figueiredo (blue gloves) during UFC 278 at Vivint Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Swinger-USA TODAY Sports
Advertisement
Considering that grappling is a large part of Albazi’s game, do not be shocked if he is the first to engage in the grappling department.
As mentioned in the previous section, Albazi is a fighter who initially excelled in the grappling arts. A tenacious competitor, Albazi’s aggression shines through in transition – something he seems to be applying to his wrestling repertoire.
Even though Albazi has the athletic ability to shoot in the open, his more effective setups and takedowns seem to come against the fence or in the clinch. And since Albazi appears to have spent this last training camp at Fight Ready MMA, I suspect those takedown tools will only be sharper this Saturday.
Luckily for Moreno, the Mexican is far from a slouch in the grappling department.
Advertisement
Starting off his career as more of a jiu-jitsu fighter, Moreno smartly swam toward the wrestling side of things (from an offensive standpoint) after being afforded the chance to train stateside through the UFC’s former developmental program.
Although Moreno was still not beyond being taken down or scoring submissions off his back, he offered plenty of glimpses of improvement during his first run with the promotion.
Moreno has been much more aggressive on the feet during this second stint, but doesn’t seem to be ignoring the other parts of his game. As far as grappling and wrestling scrambles go, Moreno was able to come out on top of stanzas against some of the division’s best grapplers in Jussier Formiga and Askar Askarov (who he clearly beat, in my opinion).
But for as good as Moreno’s grappling is concerned, he may want to pick his spots wisely with a fighter like Albazi.
Advertisement
Albazi is an avid back-taker with fantastic controls from the rear mount. Whether Albazi’s opting to lock down opponents from safer rear-riding positions or utilizing crab rides to transition, the Iraqi-born fighter does a great job at staying behind his opponent’s knees and elbows whenever possible (a quiet key to look for in good grapplers).
Brandon Moreno vs. Amir Albazi odds
The oddsmakers and the public favor the former champion, listing Moreno -172 and Albazi +134 via FanDuel.
Brandon Moreno vs. Amir Albazi prediction, pick
Considering that Moreno is the more proven product (in general and over five rounds), it’s not a big shock to see the Mexican fighter favored in this spot. However, it’s hard to know exactly where either fighter is at this point in their career.
Outside of an insane slew of title fights since the pandemic, Moreno has also experienced multiple camp changes in said time. Whereas Albazi, who has had to overcome some recent health scares, has also shifted his training camp ahead of his contest.
Advertisement
The larger octagon and 25-minute time frame should favor Moreno on paper, but I worry that the Mexican fighter’s cage positioning puts him in prime operating space for Albazi.
Although Moreno is not beyond stepping on the gas and taking initiatives of his own, he traditionally likes to counter and can be pushed into playing between the fence and inner-black octagon lines.
Should Moreno allow Albazi to take the initiative early, then I suspect that Albazi can draw out the former champ’s hooks and get off takedown entries along the cage en route to banking some early rounds. And if Albazi shows the pacing improvements that typically come with the second swings at five-round affairs, then I believe we’ll be in for a competitive fight from start to finish.
Despite usually siding with the more proven products, I find myself fading my usual trends given how god-awful my picks have been this year. I wouldn’t mind being wrong as a fan of Moreno, but I’ll be semi-reluctantly siding with Albazi to edge out another decision by having the more effective grappling and landing the more eye-catching shots.
Advertisement
Prediction: Albazi by decision
Brandon Moreno vs. Amir Albazi start time, where to watch
As the main event, Moreno and Albazi are expected to make their walks to the octagon at approximately 10:45 p.m. ET. The fight streams live on ESPN+.
You must be logged in to post a comment Login