Brandon Moreno gets new opponent after Amir Albazi is forced out of UFC Mexico City headliner

Brandon Moreno will still be headlining UFC Mexico City but will be against a different opponent.

Moreno was originally set to headline UFC Mexico City on Feb. 24 against Amir Albazi, but on Thursday it was revealed Albazi was forced out of the fight with an injury. However, third-ranked flyweight Brandon Royval has agreed to step up to rematch Moreno in the main event of the card. The news was announced by the UFC.

A new opponent for @TheAssassinBaby 🇲🇽@BrandonRoyval steps in to the #UFCMexico main event in a rematch from 4 years ago pic.twitter.com/0MrAcHbUSZ

— UFC (@ufc) January 12, 2024

Brandon Moreno and Brandon Royval fought back at UFC 255 in November of 2020, where the Mexican won by first-round TKO due to a shoulder injury from Royval. ‘Raw Dog’ had also taken that fight on short notice, as Moreno was originally supposed to fight Alex Perez who ended up getting promoted to the main event to face Deiveson Figueiredo for the flyweight title.

Brandon Moreno (21-7-2) is coming off a decision loss to Alexandre Pantoja in July to lose his flyweight title after reclaiming it the fight prior by TKO against Figueiredo. The Mexican is a two-time UFC flyweight champion, while also having been the interim champ, as he scored a TKO win over Kai Kara-France to win the interim belt in 2022. In his career, the number one ranked flyweight holds notable wins over Figueiredo, twice, Kara-France, twice, Royval, and Jussier Formiga among others.

Brandon Royval (15-7) is coming off a one-sided decision loss to Alexandre Pantoja for the flyweight title in December at UFC 296. To earn the title shot, Royval had won three straight fights as he beat Matheus Nicolau by KO, Matt Schnell by decision, and Rogerio Bontorin by decision. Before the winning streak, he suffered back-to-back losses to Pantoja by submission and Moreno in a fight he injured his shoulder in.

With Moreno and Royval set to headline UFC Mexico City on Feb. 24, the card is now as follows:

• Brandon Moreno vs. Brandon Royval
• Yair Rodriguez vs. Brian Ortega
• Raul Rosas Jr. vs. Ricky Turcios
• Edgar Chairez vs. Daniel Lacerda
• Victor Altamirano vs. Felipe dos Santos
• Yazmin Jauregui vs. Sam Hughes
• Jesus Aguilar vs. Mateus Mendonca
• Manuel Torres vs. Chris Duncan
• Luis Rodriguez vs. Denys Bondar
• Muhammad Naimov vs. Erik Silva
• Daniel Zellhuber vs. Francisco Prado
• Christian Quinonez vs. Raoni Barcelos
• Claudio Puelles vs. Fares Ziam