The 27-year-old Albazi makes his second trip into the UFC cage this weekend in a flyweight clash with fellow sophomore Zhalgas Zhumagulov, looking to extend his winning streak to three and build off his impressive debut performance.
Back in July, Albazi accepted a fight against Canadian Malcolm Gordon, filling in for his original opponent on eight days’ notice. Late in the first round, the London Shootfighters representative locked up a triangle choke from bottom, securing the submission victory.
Now 13-1 overall, it’s difficult to say where “The Prince” stacks up in the flyweight division at the moment. On one hand, he’s earned the majority of his victories by way of stoppage and looked very good against Gordon in July. But on the other hand, Albazi has fought largely untested competition prior to his last couple fights and landed on the wrong side of the result against a truly noteworthy opponent, Jose “Shorty” Torres, prior to his promotional debut.
Saturday’s bout with Zhumagulov will be another measuring stick of where he fits in the 125-pound weight class, as the 32-year-old veteran had a quality showing in a losing effort in his debut against Raulian Paiva and has victories over established talents like Ali Bagautinov, Tagir Ulanbekov, and Tyson Nam under his belt.
The flyweight division is still getting sorted out, and the opportunity to make major moves in the rankings is there for the taking. With a second consecutive strong showing, Albazi could put himself in a position to face a Top 15 opponent in the opening half of 2021.
