He currently competes in the Flyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).
When he was in the fifth grade, he and his family moved to Almaty, where he attended other combat sport classes such as karate, boxing, and Brazilian jiu-jitsu.
[5] Almabayev made his professional MMA debut against Vadim Buseev on June 1, 2013, at Rod Fighting: Shield and Sword 4.
In 2017, he suffered his first defeat at Fight Nights Global 58, losing to current UFC fighter Tagir Ulanbekov.
Two months later, Almabayev returned to the cage at the Alash Pride FC tournament and suffered a second defeat, losing to Mehman Mamedov.
[7] Almabayev faced Chris Kelades on October 19, 2019, at M-1 Challenge 105 for the Interim M-1 Global Flyweight Championship.
[15] At the weigh ins, Vergara weighed in at 127 pounds, one pound over the flyweight non-title fight limit, which led the bout to proceed at catchweight with 30 percent of Vergara's purse going to Almabayev.
[21] Almabayev was scheduled to face Steve Erceg on March 1, 2025 at UFC Fight Night 253.