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Asu Almabayev is 6-1 in the UFC. | Getty/UFC
Asu Almabayev has been forced to withdraw from the UFC Mexico City headliner a little more than three weeks before the event.
Almabayev revealed that he suffered a hand injury in a post on Instagram, confirming an Ag.Fight report that the Kazakh fighter had been forced to withdraw from a proposed flyweight booking against ex-UFC champion Brandon Moreno. It is currently unclear if Moreno, a Mexico native, will remain on the Feb. 28 card against a replacement opponent.
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‘Many Interesting Battles Ahead’
“The situation is like this: I injured my hand two days before our flight,” Almabayev wrote on Instagram (via Google Translate). “I don’t want to talk about the injury, I’ve never refused a fight, no matter who I fight, no matter what the situation, the preparation is at a good level, it’s done, no matter how much you kick, I can’t change it.
“I still have five fights left in this [organization]. I’ve been extended for a new contract. There are still many interesting battles ahead.”
Almabayev has been victorious in six of his seven Octagon appearances, with his lone loss coming against Manel Kape in March 2025. The 32-year-old rebounded from that defeat to post back-to-back triumphs over Jose Ochoa and Alex Perez to close out his 2025 campaign. The Brave Combat Federation and M-1 Global veteran owns a 23-3 career mark since beginning his professional tenure in 2013.
Moreno had a two-bout winning streak snapped in his last outing, when he suffered a secondp-round technical knockout loss to Tatsuro Taira at UFC 325 this past December. Prior to that the two-time flyweight king had earned consecutive five-round verdicts over Amir Albazi and Steve Erceg.
UFC Mexico City — also known as UFC Fight Night 268 — takes place at Arena CDMX in Mexico City, Mexico and also includes a bantamweight clash pitting Marlon Vera against David Martinez in the evening’s co-main event.
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
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