This coming weekend at UFC Edmonton, former UFC flyweight champion Brandon Moreno returns from an eight-month hiatus to take on Amir Albazi in the main event.
Following his split decision loss to Brandon Royval back in February, former UFC flyweight champ Brandon Moreno decided to step away from the Octagon to deal with his mental health.
Since then, the fan favorite has made the decision to return to action and he returns this coming Saturday at UFC Edmonton, taking on Amir Albazi in the main event.
Brandon Moreno opens up about mental health struggles ahead of his return
‘the Assassin Baby’s’ journey in the UFC has been one of the most inspiring of any fighter. From being cut from the promotion in 2019 to winning the flyweight title in 2021, the 30-year-old has seen and done it all.
The reason the Mexican decided to take a step away from fighting for eight months, was that he wanted to heal his mind and body.
“That’s the thing, I had two or three years in a row just on the grind with a lot of responsibilities with a lot of pressure, fighting title fights, at some point that is blown in my mind and you put it together with a lot of injuries, I had to heal my mind, I had to heal my body,” Moreno told ShakMMA.
Moreno went on to admit that during his recent fight with Royval, his mind wasn’t present whilst he was in the fight and his body was just fighting off instinct.
“That’s the crazy thing about fighters and competitors, we love to compete, we love to fight. So I decided to take this break, I fought in February, and then in March, I was like, damn, I have to do something, I have to take a fight,” Moreno explained why he is returning now.
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Brandon Moreno vs Amir Albazi will mark the first UFC main event with new rules
Moreno’s main event against Albazi will mark the first UFC main event since the new ruleset change, that comes into effect on November 2.
The new ruleset has removed the 12-6 elbows being illegal, meaning fighters can now use the downward elbow strike. As well as that, what defines a grounded opponent has been changed, with fighters now needing to place a body part other than their feet and hands on the ground to be ruled down.
“The 12-6 elbow, that’s good man, sometimes in some positions, you can take advantage of that elbow… It’s something that gonna be in my mind just in case,” Moreno said.
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