UFC Mexico Takes Brutal Hit as Injury Scraps Main Event Fight Just Weeks Before Card

UFC Mexico has reportedly lost its scheduled main event due to injury less than a month out from the card.

Scheduled to take place on February 28 at Arena CDMX in Mexico City, this year’s edition of UFC Mexico was supposed to see two-time UFC Flyweight Champion Brandon Moreno try to get back on track in his home country with a pivotal matchup against top-ranked contender Asu Almabayev.

The bout also represented a huge chance for Almabayev to vault into flyweight title contention himself, but Ag Fight reports that the 32-year-old has unfortunately pulled out of UFC Mexico after sustaining an injury.

Asu Almabayev Withdraws From UFC Mexico

Currently the UFC’s #7-ranked flyweight contender, Almabayev joined the promotion in 2023 and earned a “Performance of the Night” bonus for his debut victory over Ode Osbourne, which came via submission in the second round.

“Zulfikar” went 3-0 the following to start his UFC career with four-straight wins and extend his overall win streak to an impressive 17 fights. That run came to an end in his first outing of 2025, as the 32-year-old was stopped by Manel Kape in the third round of his first UFC Fight Night main event.

Asu Almabayev (blue gloves) fights CJ Vergara (red gloves) during UFC 299 at Kaseya Center. | Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports

Almabayev rebounded in July with a unanimous decision over Jose Ochoa, and in November he scored arguably the biggest win of his UFC career when he submitted perennial top-ranked flyweight Alex Perez with a guillotine choke in the third round.

Brandon Moreno Ended 2025 With Controversial Loss

Moreno sits two spots ahead of Almabayev at #5 in the UFC flyweight rankings and was on a two-fight winning streak himself before suffering a somewhat-controversial loss to Tatsuro Taira at UFC 323 to close out last year.

“The Assassin Baby” is now well over two years removed from his second stint with the UFC flyweight belt, which he lost to Alexandre Pantoja via split decision at UFC 290. Moreno followed that result with another split decision loss to Brandon Royval before he rebounded with back-to-back victories over Amir Albazi and former title challenger Steve Erceg.

Brandon Moreno (red gloves) celebrates after defeating Amir Albazi (not pictured) in a flyweight bout during UFC Fight Night. — Brandon Moreno (red gloves) celebrates after defeating Amir Albazi (not pictured) in a flyweight bout during UFC Fight Night at Rogers Place. | Perry Nelson-Imagn Images

The UFC would presumably like to try and keep Moreno on UFC Mexico given his immense popularity in his home country. The promotion may be hard-pressed to find a suitable replacement on less than a months’ notice though, and unfortunately fans already expressed some displeasure with the state of the UFC Mexico card when Macy Chiasson vs. Ailin Perez was revealed as the night’s co-main event.

UFC Mexico Fight Card

• Co-Main Event: Macy Chiasson vs. Ailin Perez

• Daniel Zellhuber vs. King Green

• Marlon Vera vs. David Martinez

• Edgar Chairez vs. Felipe Bunes

• Imanol Rodriguez vs. Kevin Borjas

• Jose Medina vs. Ryan Gandra

• Wes Schultz vs. Damian Pinas

• Santiago Luna vs. Angel Pacheco

• Christian Quiñonez vs. Kris Moutinho

• Ernesta Kareckaite vs. Sofia Montenegro

• Douglas Silva de Andrade vs. Javier Reyes

• Erik Silva vs. Francis Marshall

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