Amir Albazi has posted for the first time since his loss at UFC Edmonton.
The top flyweight contender was easily outpointed by former two-time champion Brandon Moreno over five rounds at Rogers Place on Saturday night.
‘Baby Assassin’ left Albazi covered in blood, and bruises and in need of immediate medical attention after beating him up for 25 minutes in Dana White’s latest main event.
However, the defeat has done nothing to deter Albazi, who posted a powerful message about his fighting future from a hospital soon after UFC Edmonton was over.
Amir Albazi vows to return better than ever
Amir Albazi videoed himself in a hospital bed after the UFC’s latest show in Canada.
The 31-year-old revealed he would be spending the night there before giving Moreno props for a brilliant performance and insisting he will bounce back better than ever.
“I didn’t think I was gonna spend the night in the hospital,” Albazi said on his Instagram story.
“Brandon Moreno was the better man tonight. It [wasn’t] our night.
“But like he said, maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, I will be back. I will be back better than this.”
Albazi dropped to 17-2 as an MMA professional against Moreno, who gave ‘The Prince’ his first taste of defeat since Jose Torres outpointed him in April 2019.
Since then, he’d won six consecutive bouts, which included a split decision victory over Kai Kara France, to put himself on the brink of a title shot at 125lbs.
Now, he’ll have to work his way back into the flyweight title picture next year.
Brandon Moreno sends a message to the flyweight division
After establishing himself as the best of the rest at 125lbs, Brandon Moreno used his post-fight mic time to send a menacing message to his rivals.
“Man, I wanna eat! I wanna eat a lot,” he told Daniel Cormier after beating Albazi.
“I just want to be on the top again, I want my title back! This is just a reminder for the rest of the division, I never say nothing! I’m always very respectful to everybody
“But put someone here and I’ll be the baddest f***ing person on the planet!”
Moreno took months away from fighting after a disappointing defeat against Brandon Royval in Mexico City in February. Before that, he lost the UFC flyweight title to Alexandre Pantoja at UFC 290.
Pantoja will defend his belt against promotional newcomer Kai Asakura at UFC 310, which needs a new main event after Belal Muhammad withdrew from his fight with Shavkat Rakhmonov earlier this week.
Moreno is potentially one more win away from another title shot, so he’ll be watching closely when Pantoja and Asakura throw down in the co-main event on December 7.