Albazi out, Royval to face Moreno in main event at UFC Mexico

Former flyweight champion Brandon Moreno will have a new opponent for UFC Fight Night: Mexico (237) on Feb. 24 as he'll be taking on Brandon Royval, the promotion announced on Thursday.

Moreno (21-7-2), in his home country, was originally supposed to take on Amir Albazi (17-1-0), but the division's No. 2-ranked fighter had to pull out due to a neck injury.

The new main event bout will be a rematch for Moreno and No. 3-ranked flyweight Royval (15-7-0), who fought on UFC 255 back in 2020.

Their previous fight ended with Moreno winning via first-round TKO after Royval dislocated his shoulder and couldn't protect himself from an ensuing ground-and-pound assault.

Now the two will have a rematch, both with much more experience under their belt, and the stakes being a bit higher.

Since the last fight, Moreno, the first-ever Mexican UFC champion, has held the flyweight title on two separate occasions. Next month will be his first time stepping in the cage since relinquishing the belt to Alexandre Pantoja (27-5-0) at UFC 290 last July via split decision.

Royval was the most recent title challenger as he took on Pantoja on Dec. 16 at UFC 296, but the 31-year-old ultimately came up short and lost via unanimous decision.

Both fighters will have a chance to make their case for another title shot with a statement victory.

Meanwhile, Albazi spoke about the decision to remove him from the main event, on X (formerly Twitter).

Albazi was one of the hottest fighters going into the main event, undefeated through five contests since entering the UFC in 2020, three of those victories coming in early stoppages.

"I love this fight game but nothing will come before my health," Albazi said. "I have issues in my neck that will require surgery. My spinal cord is affected and leading to weakness in my arm. I have seen several doctors and they are all saying surgery."