Half of the flyweight UFC Mexico City Main Event has been ruled out.
Asu Almabayev is out of his fight with Brandon Moreno at the Fight Night event, taking place at CDMX Arena in Mexico City, Mexico on February 28, 2026.
That leaves little time for the promotion to find a replacement for Moreno, a former two-time flyweight champion and native of Mexico.
Ag.Vecht was the first to report the news that Almabayev was withdrawing due to injury.
Without specifying the nature of the injury, Almabayev later said cconfirmed on social media that he had a problem with his hand/arm. “The situation is as follows: I got a hand injury, two days before our flight it suddenly appeared,” wrote the Kazakh flyweight (translation via Google Translate). “I have never been one to back down from a fight, no matter who I face or the circumstances, my preparation has been at a good level. What has to happen will happen; no matter how hard you try, you cannot change it.”
Moreno enters UFC Mexico City looking to bounce back from a loss to Tatsuro Taira. If the UFC cannot find a replacement for Almabayev, there is a chance that Daniel Zellhuber vs. King Green stars, or alternatively Ecuador’s Marlon “Chito” Vera, who takes on Mexican David Martinez. The map currently looks like this:
- Brandon Moreno vs. TBD
- Edgar Cháirez vs. Felipe Bunes
- Marlon Vera vs. David Martinez
- Imanol Rodriguez vs. Kevin Borjas
- Daniel Zellhuber vs. King Green
- Santiago Luna vs. Angel Pacheco
- Ryan Gandra vs. José Daniel Medina
- Macy Chiasson vs. Aline Perez
- Damian Pinas vs. Wesley Schultz
- Cristian Quiñonez vs. Kris Moutinho
- Sofia Montenegro vs. Ernesta Kareckaite
- Douglas Silva de Andrade vs. Javier Reyes
- Francis Marshall vs. Erik Silva
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