Amir Albazi is one of the leading contenders in the UFC’s flyweight division, but he’s had to spend the past year-and-a-half out of action after undergoing both heart and neck surgeries.
Now just days away from his headlining comeback fight against Brandon Moreno at UFC Fight Night 246 on Saturday night he’s spoken about the serious health struggles he’s had to overcome in order to return to the Octagon.
“Before my Kai Kara-Fance fight, I was struggling with some health issues,” Albazi said at the UFC Fight Night 246 media day. “I didn’t really know what it was, but after my fight it showed that I had something called supraventricular tachycardia (SVT). That’s the medical name for it. It’s basically irregular heart beat. My heart rate would go up to 239, so I had to do a heart surgery.”
“After the heart surgery, I kept training for the fight against Brandon Moreno in Mexico City, and then my left arm literally stopped. I couldn’t lift my arm up, I couldn’t jab, I couldn’t do anything, but I still kept training. … After I got my first MRI, the first doctor said, ‘You shouldn’t be fighting anymore. Find a 9-to-5.’ I kept going to different doctors and when the UFC doctors found out, they literally pulled me out of the fight and I had to go straight into surgery. They told me (I was) one punch away from getting paralyzed. So after that surgery, here I am. It’s the longest break of my career.”
Thankfully Albazi is now fully recovered and is eager to get back to building on his current 5-0 record in the UFC so far.
“To be honest, it feels amazing, and I’m just grateful and happy to finally be back in another fight week,” Albazi said. “Also, I’m a main event, so this means a lot, and it’s a great opportunity for me to put my stamp back on this weight class and show people what I’m made of and show people what I can do in this division.”
