This will be Albazi’s first fight since dropping a unanimous decision to Brandon Moreno in late 2024 and only his third appearance since the close of 2022. “The Prince” is a legitimate threat when healthy and active, but those two things have escaped him of late, leaving many to question where he stands in the deepening flyweight division at the moment.
Horiguchi showed that he’s at least a Top 10 in his return to the Octagon in November, dominating and then finishing Tagir Ulanbekov to register his first UFC win in nearly a decade. The 35-year-old’s only UFC setback came in a championship bout with Demetrious Johnson in 2015, and this older, wiser, more experienced version still has everything it takes to get back to that spot in the future.
UFC 325 REWIND: Main Card Results | Prelim Results | Scorecards
Can Albazi come back and show he’s still a championship contender, or will Horiguchi garner a second consecutive win and take another step forward in the divisional ranks?
Jailton Almeida vs Rizvan Kuniev
For the third straight week, we get an intriguing heavyweight pairing as Jailton Almeida steps in to square off with fellow Dana White’s Contender Series (DWCS) grad Rizvan Kuniev.
Almeida, who replaces Ryan Spann here, landed on the wrong side of a split decision verdict last time out in a clash with Alexander Volkov, where the Brazilian logged over 10 minutes of control time. It’ll be fascinating to see if that loss, which cost him a place in the Top 5, motivates “Malhadinho” to be more aggressive and attacking when he gets to dominant spots, especially given how easily and often he seems to get there whenever he steps into the Octagon.