Originally scheduled to take place earlier this year in Mexico City, Brandon Moreno and Amir Albazi will finally share the Octagon in Edmonton this weekend. Saturday marks Moreno’s first appearance since losing to Brandon Royval in Mexico City in February and announcing he wanted to take a little time away from competing. It was his second straight split decision loss, as well as his seventh consecutive five-round assignment and 11th fight in less than four-and-a-half years since returning to the promotion, making his eight-month hiatus very necessary and very well deserved. This is a very solid fight night card. Although the top four fights on the Main Card don’t have a Canadian fighter, eight are featured throughout this card. Significant stakes are attached to the top two fights, with a future title shot in reach for the winner.

For the first time since the Unified Rules were created in 2001, 12-to-6 elbows are now legal. There have been changes to what is considered a grounded opponent. With these new rules, an opponent is considered grounded when any part of their body other than their hands or feet touches the canvas. After losing his flyweight title to Alexandre Pantoja in July 2023 at UFC 290, he failed to get back in the win column against Brandon Royval in February. Moreno has lost his last two fights by split decision. Albazi has had an even more extended layoff than Moreno. He hasn’t fought since June 2023, when he beat Kai Kara-France by split decision. Moreno is the better striker, landing over one more significant strike per minute than Albazi. The former champion is also the more efficient fighter on the ground as well. The winner of this fight will put themselves in a prime position to challenge for the title in 2025.

The former two-time strawweight champion Namajunas makes her third start of the year, seeking a third consecutive win after posting consecutive unanimous decision victories over Amanda Ribas and Tracy Cortez. She’s rebounded nicely after suffering a broken thumb and decision loss in her divisional debut, and seems locked in on making a serious push towards a championship opportunity in her new surroundings. Blanchfield’s rise through the flyweight ranks was paused momentarily back in March when the New Jersey native landed on the wrong side of the cards in a main event meeting with Manon Fiorot in Atlantic City. Still just 25 years old, the Brazilian jiu jitsu black belt is 6-1 in the UFC and 12-2 overall, and the last time she suffered a setback, she rattled off nine straight wins.

Moreno is looking to bounce back after a split-decision loss to Brandon Royval last time out in the main event on Feb. 24. That setback came on the heels of a championship bout loss to Alexandre Pantoja at UFC 290 in July 2023. His last victory came in a TKO – Doctor’s Stoppage against Deiveson Figueiredo at UFC 283 Jan. 21, 2023. Albazi picked up a split-decision win against Kai Kara-France June 3, 2023, in his most recent appearance in a fight night main event. Since making his UFC debut on July 18, 2020, he has picked up 5 victories, including 2 submission victories, a KO/TKO win over Alessandro Costa, and 2 decision victories. Moreno holds a 2-inch reach advantage, and he has a 3.87-to-2.80 significant strikes landed per minute advantage, too. Moreno is more accurate at 50.29%, while Albazi has managed a 48.57% mark. The takedown average difference is negligible, while Moreno is more accurate in that category, too, going 46.88%.

With Valentina Shevchenko returning to the throne at Noche UFC in September and Manon Fiorot seemingly locked in as the No. 1 contender, this feels like a matchup to determine who could be next to face the new two-time champion. It’s also an excellent opportunity to get further reads on where each woman stands at the moment, as Namajunas has the opportunity to show she can out-work another elite contender, while Blanchfield gets a second crack at turning aside an established name in a five-round fight.

Fighting out of Franco Kickboxing Pankration in Vancouver, Machado moves down a division after landing on the wrong side of the scorecards in each of his first two UFC appearances at heavyweight. The 30-year-old was always slightly undersized for the heavyweight ranks and will look to get back to the form that produced an 8-1-1 record prior to arriving on the big stage in this one. Ribeiro registered a first-round knockout win over unbeaten prospect Bruno Lopes last season to earn his contract, but has struggled to replicate that success through his first two appearances under the UFC banner. After getting stopped by Zhang Mingling in his debut, “The Gorilla” dropped a majority decision to Magomed Gadzhiyasulov last time out.