Asu Almabayev

Almabayev controlled the matchup in Baku by staying a step ahead of Johnson's counters and eventually turning the fight back to his grappling.

Key moments

• The fight stayed competitive on the feet early, but Almabayev kept steering it toward the phases he preferred.
• Johnson was forced to react to repeated grappling looks instead of building his usual rhythm as a volume striker.
• Almabayev finished with a Suloev stretch at 3:33 of round three.
• The stoppage gave him another ranked-caliber UFC win after the Kape setback.

Almabayev bounced back from the Kape loss by dragging Ochoa through a scramble-heavy, wrestling-led fight over three rounds.

Key moments

• Ochoa opened aggressively, which gave Almabayev early chances to duck under and wrestle.
• Almabayev repeatedly found body locks, mat returns, and back-take positions even when Ochoa scrambled up.
• Ochoa threatened from guard with armbars, triangles, and guillotines, but Almabayev kept escaping and reasserting top control.
• The three-round decision showed Almabayev could win a grinding technical fight even without a finish.

Kape's speed and explosive entries gave Almabayev problems from the opening round, and the striking damage accumulated quickly. By the second round Almabayev's eye was in bad shape, Kape was still beating him to clean shots, and the fight was eventually stopped in the third as the damage and pace caught up with the Kazakhstan native.

Key moments

• Kape's blitzing left hands and counters opened a damaging cut around Almabayev's eye in round one.
• Almabayev had some body kicks and isolated counters, but he rarely controlled the range for long.
• The eye damage became a central factor by round two and never improved.

Almabayev won a clear three-round decision by repeatedly forcing Johnson to defend wrestling and back-control sequences instead of letting the taller striker settle at range. Johnson had a few reversals and submission looks, but Almabayev kept finding takedowns, back takes, and top control often enough to bank the fight.

Key moments

• Almabayev turned an early Johnson teep into a body-lock takedown.
• He took Johnson's back late in round one and spent long stretches threatening from control.
• Johnson locked a triangle in round two, but Almabayev escaped and worked back on top.
• Johnson briefly found mount and the back in round three before Almabayev reversed and finished the round in control.

Almabayev controlled this catchweight bout with kicks, clinch work, and a steady stream of takedowns that kept Vergara from building long striking exchanges. By the time the fight reached the final horn, the grappling control and pace had produced a clean 30-27 sweep.

Key moments

• Almabayev opened with kicks, then turned the fight into clinch and back-control work in round one.
• He landed another takedown in round two and spent long stretches on top.
• He piled up 14 takedown attempts, nine completions, and more than nine minutes of control time.

Almabayev's UFC debut quickly became a grappling-led fight once he dragged Osbourne to the mat and kept him pinned under sustained top pressure. The second round followed the same pattern until Osbourne exposed his neck and Almabayev finished the rear-naked choke.

Key moments

• He landed his first takedown about 90 seconds into round one.
• He opened a cut with top strikes while controlling Osbourne on the mat.
• Round two again shifted quickly toward Almabayev's wrestling and mat control.
• He locked up the rear-naked choke at 3:11 of the second round for a successful debut finish.

Maningat stayed active from the bottom early, but Almabayev's pace and control steadily wore him down.

Key moments

• Almabayev pinned Maningat early with grappling control.
• Maningat fired upward strikes from bottom position but could not reverse the fight.
• Almabayev secured the rear-naked choke at 3:30 of round two.

This was one of Almabayev's tighter BRAVE wins, a competitive split decision over former UFC title challenger Zach Makovsky.

Key moments

• BRAVE promoted the matchup as a battle between elite flyweights rather than a one-sided showcase.
• Makovsky's veteran experience forced Almabayev into a much closer fight than several of his other BRAVE outings.
• The win pushed Almabayev toward BRAVE's number-one-contender spot at flyweight.

Almabayev had to work into the third round before finally stopping Alencar with a punch just 27 seconds into the frame.

Key moments

• The bout reached the third round before Almabayev found the finish.
• The stoppage came by punch knockout 27 seconds into round three.
• The win showed Almabayev could stay dangerous even after a longer regional fight.

Almabayev won the vacant Naiza FC flyweight title by submitting Skakov in the first round of the main event.

Key moments

• The bout was contested for the vacant Naiza FC flyweight title.
• It was billed as the event's main event.
• Almabayev finished the fight with a rear-naked choke at 3:29 of round one.

Almabayev won a two-round unanimous decision over Jafarli at Almaty Arena.

Key moments

• This was a two-round fight rather than a standard three-round booking.
• The bout lasted the full 10 minutes before going to the cards.
• The win came in front of a home-country crowd in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

Almabayev won quickly in Ufa, submitting Ayvazov with an armbar in the opening round.

Key moments

• The fight ended in round one when Almabayev locked up an armbar.
• The official finish time was 3:41 of the opening round.
• It was one of three straight finishes after Almabayev returned from his long layoff.