Ottman Azaitar

Ottman Azaitar was removed from UFC 257 due to protocol violations (Updated)

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The morning we saw some shuffling in tomorrow night’s UFC 257 card. Originally, Ottman Azaitar (13-0) was scheduled to take on Matt Frevola (8-1-1) on the PPV main card. However, we learned early this morning that the fight was scrapped. 

Originally, the assumption was that the fight was scrapped due to a weight cutting issue from Azaitar. Frevola still made the walk to the UFC 257 weigh-ins and he made weight successfully at 155.5 pounds.

With the Azaitar fight scrapped, the promotion shifted gears to get Frevola another fight. Lightweight Arman Tsarukyan (15-2) was scheduled to take on Nasrat Haqparast (12-3) tomorrow night. However, Haqparast came down with an illness and was pulled out.

The UFC has paired Frevola and Tsarukyan for a fight tomorrow night. A couple of hours after all this drama and we are learning more about what happened with Ottman Azaitar. Azaitar’s team posted an Instagram video of his tough weight cut just hours before weigh-ins.

For this reason, many believed it was an issue with his weight. However, the UFC has come out with a statement discussing why Azaitar was removed from tomorrow night’s card.

Their statement reads, “UFC is aware of a recent violation of the health and safety protocols involving Ottman Azaitar. As such, Azaitar has been removed from the safety zone and his upcoming bout against Matt Frevola has been canceled.”

What’s next for the UFC’s Azaitar?

One thing we know for sure is that the promotion takes their protocols extremely seriously. The rules that the UFC has in place are extremely strict and so far, fighters have done a good job of obeying the rules.

That of course changed this morning with Azaitar. Azaitar – Frevola was a very good fight for UFC 257 and now we will not get to see it due to health and safety violations from The Bulldozer.

Dana White announced that Ottman Azaitar has been cut from the promotion due to the violations. He told Farah Hannoun the news after this morning’s ceremonial weigh-ins.

Matt Frevola will now meet Arman Tsarukyan at UFC 257

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UFC, Matt Frevola

There was a bit of drama this morning at the UFC 257 weigh-ins. To start out the morning, Jon Anik announced that the lightweight matchup between Matt Frevola (8-1-1) and Ottman Azaitar (13-0) was called off.

There still has been no update other than that from the UFC. Azaitar’s team posted a video on Instagram a few hours ago saying it was a tough weight cut, but supposedly Azaitar was close to making weight.

However, he never made it to the UFC 257 weigh-ins. Matt Frevola still showed up and successfully made weight at 155.5 pounds. The word was that Frevola would serve as a backup with many other lightweight fights on the card.

At this point, you can imagine Frevola would take a fight against anyone considering this would be his fourth cancellation in the last year. Later on this morning, Arman Tsarukyan (15-2) took the scale. He was three pounds over coming in at 159 pounds.

Tsarukyan was scheduled to take on Nasrat Haqparast (12-3) tomorrow night. UFC officials have announced that Haqparast will not compete tomorrow and never made it to weigh-ins this morning just like Azaitar.

With those two out, the promotion moved to book the matchup between Frevola and Tsarukyan. After some scrambling, the UFC confirmed the bout and now Matt Frevola will take on Arman Tsarukyan tomorrow night.

UFC 257’s new lightweight matchup

This will be the first UFC fight for Frevola since October of 2019. As previously mentioned, Frevola had three fights fall through in 2020. It was not surprising at all to see him accept the fight against Tsarukyan this morning.

Tsarukyan is a Russian prospect that has a decent amount of hype behind him. Since 2015, the only man to have defeated Tsarukyan is Islam Makhachev. That loss came in Tsarukyan’s UFC debut.

Since that fight, he’s 2-0 with two decision wins. Both men are riding two-fight winning streaks heading into tomorrow night. While it’s not the opponent they originally had, they both will still have the opportunity to compete on a massive Conor McGregor card.

UFC 257 loses Matt Frevola – Ottman Azaitar

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UFC, Matt Frevola

This morning we had the weight-ins for UFC 257 and the PPV lost one of the fights on the main card. While reasons are still unknown at this time, Jon Anik announced that the main card bout between Matt Frevola (8-1-1) and Ottman Azaitar (13-0) was off.

It’s worth noting that Frevola did successfully weigh-in at 155.5 pounds for UFC 257. However, we never saw Azaitar this morning. The word is that Frevola will now serve as a backup for one of the other lightweight bouts on the card should someone else fall out.

This was a fight that I was very intrigued by. Azaitar has looked sensational since he made his UFC debut back in 2019. He’s scored two devastating first round knockouts including one over Khama Worthy.

The Bulldozer looks like he can be a force at 155 pounds. Matt Frevola is riding a two-fight winning streak of his own. “The Steamrolla” was supposed to be a really good test for Azaitar to see just where he’s at in the lightweight division.

Frevola last fought in October of 2019 when he defeated Luis Pena. Frevola had a couple of UFC fights fall through in 2020 and that kept him out. After a year off, you can imagine that Frevola is very frustrated with the developments this morning.

The UFC’s Plan

As mentioned, the UFC’s plan is for Frevola to stick around. There are several lightweight bouts on the card and should someone fallout, he would be there to step in. It’s hard to say what the promotion will do when it comes to the original Azaitar – Frevola fight.

We still don’t know what exactly happened with Azaitar, however, we can likely assume it was a weight cutting issue. This is a really good matchup on paper and I wouldn’t be shocked to see the UFC put this together again soon should Frevola not compete tomorrow night.

 

UFC Vegas 10 Recap: Michelle Waterson edges Angela Hill in an instant classic

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Tonight, the UFC hosted it’s tenth fight night from their APEX facility. It was a night full of fantastic matchups. In the main event of the evening, there was a highly anticipated matchup between strawweights Michelle Waterson (17-8) and Angela Hill (12-8)

The two top 15 UFC strawweights were looking to take the next step towards title contention tonight. Both were coming off of losses in their last UFC contest, but a win for either, would be a big step in the right direction.

Waterson and Hill deliver in an instant classic

Both of these ladies came to fight tonight. The two top UFC strawweight contenders both had big moments in the fight. I was blown away early on by Angela Hill’s hands early on in the fight. In the first round, her hands looked extremely crisp.

Waterson then came back in the second round with some solid adjustments. Hill was still landing big shots, but Waterson shifted to using more of her hands which found her some success. Both ladies were putting on an incredible pace while throwing big shots at the other in the first two rounds.

In the third round, Hill really started letting her hands go. She bloodied Waterson’s nose, but the Karate Hottie landed a big takedown that changed the course of the round. Waterson dominated the third round with her superior grappling.

In the fourth round, Waterson really tried to get the fight back to the ground. However, Hill did a fantastic job of defending. Both ladies had some really good moments on the feet in the fourth round. I had the fight even going into the final round.

The final round featured these top UFC strawweights not giving an inch. Both ladies were throwing everything that they had trying to put a stamp on the victory. The final round was razor close, but I did lean towards Hill with her work in the final minute.

The judges ended up scoring the fight for Michelle Waterson (49-46, 48-47, 47-48). Hill has now lost two straight razor close split decisions that could have gone her way. A massive win for Michelle Waterson who snaps her two fight losing streak.

UFC Vegas 10 Results

UFC Vegas 10 delivered a very solid night of fights. One of the standouts was Bobby Green (27-10-1), who won his third fight in the last three months. Green defeated Alan Patrick by unanimous decision. Last year, Green seemed content with walking away from the sport, and now he’s on a massive career resurgence in 2020.

Andrea Lee (11-5) and Roxanne Modafferi (25-17) had an extremely entertaining fight. The two top ten UFC flyweight contenders went back and forth over three rounds. In the end, Modafferi was able to secure a unanimous decision. The third straight close loss for Lee.

In the co-main event of the evening, Ottman Azaitar (13-0) blew me away. The bulldozer came in undefeated, but he was an underdog to Khama Worthy (16-7) who had won seven straight fights. Azaitar ran through Worthy knocking him out in the first round.

 

UFC Vegas 10: Michelle Waterson and Angela Hill take center stage

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Throughout 2020, the UFC has been hit with some cancellations due to COVID-19. However, one that stings really bad is losing the main event for tomorrow night’s fight night. Thiago Santos and Glover Teixiera were due to battle in a title eliminator.

However, after Teixiera tested positive, the UFC pushed the fight back. Now, the UFC has bumped up the co-main event featuring Michelle Waterson (17-8) and Angela Hill (12-8). While not the biggest fight on paper, it’s still expected to deliver a solid fight.

Michelle Waterson vs Angela Hill

This main event pairs two of the top 13 fighters in the women’s strawweight division against each other. For The Karate Hottie, she’s looking to break her current two fight losing streak in the UFC. Both losses came against former champions.

Between 2018 and 2019, Michelle Waterson went on a run in the UFC. She won three consecutive fights including one against former title challenger Karolina Kowalkiewicz. Following that winning streak, she got a shot against the former champion, Joanna Jedrzejczyk.

Waterson came up short in that fight as she was outclassed on the feet by the former champion. Then she suffered a split decision loss to Carla Esparza at UFC 249. I personally scored the fight for Waterson. Nevertheless, she will look to break her losing streak.

Angela Hill has really turned a corner over the last 12 months. A year ago today, Hill’s record was 9-7, but she went on a three fight winning streak before fighting Claudia Gadelha back in May. Many people thought she should have won the fight, but she lost a split decision.

To me, this is really a matchup of top ten strawweights. Hill is better than the 13th best in the division. Waterson has put together a solid UFC career so far, but she’s always been fighting above her natural weight class since the promotion doesn’t have atomweight.

Waterson is headlining her third UFC event, and while I think she’s very talented, I think this is a tough matchup. Hill has been doing a very good job of using her lengthy punches in her recent fights. A strategy that should really help her in this one score some points.

I expect both of these ladies to have their moments in this fight. For Waterson, she cannot sit back too much. She needs to be active with kicks to score as much as she can. I just think Hill is ready to take that next step in the strawweight division.

Prediction: Angela Hill by Unanimous Decision

The Rest of UFC Vegas 10

While not the sexiest card the UFC has put together, there are definitely some solid fights up and down the card. I’m anxious to watch the fight between top ten flyweights, Roxanne Modafferi (24-17) and Andrea Lee (11-4). The co-main with Khama Worthy (16-6) and undefeated Ottman Azaitar (12-0) should be fantastic.

The prelims also have some solid action including Roosevelt Roberts (10-2) taking on Matt Frevola (8-1-1). Those two have had some back and forth. Again, not the biggest card in terms of name recognition, but the UFC is putting forth a card that should deliver on action.