Some of the finest MMA competitors since the emergence of MMA as a sport come from the same few countries, namely the United States, Russia, and Brazil, to name a few. However, certain countries have only a few, and sometimes only a single fighter to represent them, and Iraq is one of those nations. Currently, the UFC has only one Iraqi star, Amir Albazi, who’s returning to action this weekend.

Amir Albazi is one of the UFC’s most destructive flyweight fighters to emerge from the Middle East. ‘The Prince’ has yet to face defeat inside the Octagon, but he did hit a roadblock before his advent into Dana White‘s promotion. As Albazi gears up to take on former 2-time champion Brandon Moreno at UFC on ESPN+ 104 in Edmonton, Canada, let’s see where he stumbled in his MMA journey.

Amir Albazi Losses: Who has defeated the UFC flyweight?

Everything is fine with Amir Albazi’s record, but he has that one blemish, one loss, that diminished his chances of retiring as an undefeated fighter. What’s more surprising is that his only loss took place before signing with the UFC. Given how much of a dominating fighter he is, which is evident in his record, this might end up being the only night where things did not go his way. However, ‘The Prince’ didn’t lose to a normal opponent; he lost to a former champion during his time in Brave CF.

In April 2019, Amir Albazi came face-to-face against Jose Torres, a Chicago native with an impressive 12-3 record, who is also a former UFC fighter. Torres had been a champion in Titan FC, a promotion based in Pompano Beach, California, and also in Brave CF, where he was the bantamweight champion. So of course, the fight wasn’t going to be an easy one for Albazi and it went to decision.

Despite the efforts from ‘The Prince’, Jose Torres edged past Amir Albazi with a comprehensive unanimous decision, and it was after this fight that Torres went on to win the bantamweight title in that promotion. However, that loss hasn’t taken away the fact that the Iraqi star has a pretty impressive record from a statistical point of view.

More about Albazi’s MMA record and stats

Dana White and the UFC fans love to see a finish, and that’s what Amir Albazi’s all about. The 31-year-old Baghdad native has only three out of his seventeen wins coming via decision. For the rest, he didn’t really need the judges. Albazi has nine submission wins and five knockout wins, and three of those wins were registered under the UFC banner.

If we take a look at his statistics page on UFC’s website, his striking accuracy may not look as good as fans would think, as it stands at 40 percent. But his defense against strikes stands at an impressive 63 percent. Moreover, despite the majority of Amir Albazi’s wins coming via submission, surprisingly his takedown defense and accuracy are below 40 percent. Now, how that is going to play out against a two-time champion in Brandon Moreno is something that we’ll have to wait to find out.

Amir Albazi’s upcoming fight is a considerable step up in competition. Brandon Moreno is no easy fight, and the two-time champ isn’t done fighting for the title because the prospect of winning the 125-pound title for a third time doesn’t sound too bad of an idea. Whom do you see winning this weekend?