Albazi vs Costa: the Rematch, Four Years Later

These two have met before. In December 2022 Amir Albazi knocked out Alessandro Costa in the third round, when Albazi was a rising contender and Costa a newcomer out of the Contender Series. On November 21 in Doha they run it back at flyweight, and almost everything about it has flipped.

Costa, 30, out of Manaus, has won three straight this year, all early: he knocked out Stewart Nicoll in April, stopped Matt Schnell in the first round in June as a late replacement, and choked out Cody Durden in July. Albazi, 33, is still ranked ninth, but he has lost his last two by decision — to Brandon Moreno, then to Kyoji Horiguchi in February — and his last win came in June 2023.

Both men finish. Fourteen of Albazi's seventeen wins came inside the distance, nine by submission; Costa's split the same way, fourteen of seventeen, evenly between knockouts and submissions. Albazi is also the only ranked opponent Costa has faced in the UFC — and that night ended with Costa out cold. UFC Fight Night Doha tickets.