Amir Albazi returns against former title challenger Alex Perez at UFC Fight Night 216

We’ve got a very exciting flyweight bout going down at UFC Fight Night 216 between no. 9 ranked Amir Albazi (15-1) and no. 6 ranked Alex Perez (24-7), an event that is to be headlined by middleweight contenders in no. 2 ranked Jared Cannonier (15-6) and no. 7 ranked Sean Strickland (25-4).

UFC Fight Night 216 is to go down on December 17, 2022, live from the UFC Apex in Enterprise, Nevada.

This flyweight bout should be very telling to see where each man is at in their careers; either Albazi will remain undefeated inside the octagon, or Perez will snap his two-fight losing skid.

Alex Perez first came to the UFC in December of 2017 with a record of 18-4, and in less than three years’ time, he’d rack up a promotional record of 6-1 (2 knockout, 2 submission, 2 decision). His only defeat came to Joseph Benavidez, a multi-time title challenger at both 125 & 135 lbs, and perhaps the greatest fighter ever to have never won a belt.

Following that defeat, a three-fight win streak would ensue, where Perez would next be challenging Deiveson Figueiredo for the UFC flyweight championship in November of 2020. Figueiredo would finish (guillotine choke) Perez in the opening round, and we wouldn’t see him again for nearly two years.

Upon return, Perez would be opposing no. 2 ranked Alexandre Pantoja, and he was again submitted (neck crank) in the very first round.

Amir Albazi on the other hand has been perfect thus far into his UFC tenure, winning his first three octagon bouts with two finishes, just as Perez did.

This began with him submitting (triangle choke) Malcolm Gordon in his promotional debut, before following it up with wins over former FNG flyweight champion Zhalgas Zhumagulov (UD), as well as champion Deiveson Figueiredo’s younger brother Francisco (rear naked choke) to improve his win streak to four-straight.

Many people believe Albazi is a future champion, and many said the same about Perez not too awfully long ago.

Who comes out on top at UFC Fight Night 216?

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Brady Ordway

I became a fan of combat sports when I was 12 years old. I was scrolling through the channels and landed upon Versus, where WEC was televised. Urijah Faber fought Jens Pulver for the second time that night. That's the first fight I ever saw, and I was immediately hooked. So eventually, I began covering the sport in the fourth quarter of 2018, and have since started writing about animals as well. If you'd like to see those pieces, be sure to check out learnaboutnature.com!

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