Brandon Moreno is making quick turnaround following his recent UFC 323 loss.
The former two-time flyweight champion will face Asu Almabayev in the main event of a Feb. 28 Fight Night card at Arena CDMX in Mexico City, the organization announced Friday.
Moreno was stopped via technical knockout by Tatsuro Taira on Dec. 6 in Las Vegas, a stoppage Moreno and many onlookers thought was slightly premature.
His loss to Taira snapped a two-fight winning streak and it was his first scheduled three-round bout in more than five years. Moreno had participated in nine consecutive five-round bouts either in title fights or Fight Night main events dating back to 2020.
The 32-year-old from Tijuana became the first Mexican-born UFC champion when he initially won the belt back in 2021.
The bout with Almabayev will be scheduled for five rounds in the 125-pound division. Moreno has fallen to No. 4 in the flyweight contender rankings as Almabayev has risen to No. 7.
Almabayev, 31 from Kazakhstan, is coming off a submission win over Alex Perez in November. He is 6-1 since debuting in the UFC in 2023 and 23-3 overall in mixed martial arts.
No other fights have been officially announced for the Feb. 28 card to date.
This event will mark the third consecutive year the UFC has held an event at Arena CDMX. The previous two were also headlined by Moreno. He won a unanimous decision over Steve Erceg this past March and lost a split decision to Brandon Royval there in February of 2024.
