Ottman Azaitar returns at UFC 281 opposing Matt Frevola following two-year absence
UFC 281 is quickly becoming a card to watch, as we have a pair of back-to-back title fights in the main and co-main events. Israel Adesanya (23-1) looks to make the sixth his UFC middleweight championship opposing fellow kickboxing champion Alex Pereira (6-1), someone he’s 0-2 against in kickboxing.
Then our co-main event of the evening comes in the 115 lb division as two-time UFC strawweight champion Carla Esparza (19-6) aims to make the first defense of her newly claimed title against former champion Weili Zhang (22-3).
UFC 281 is to go down on November 12, 2022, live from Madison Square Garden, New York City.
We also have a feature fight between former interim UFC lightweight champion Dustin Poirier (28-7) and former multi-time Bellator lightweight champion Michael Chandler (23-7). The UFC finally put this fight together!
What an event this has turned into.
Another very exciting clash that’s recently been added to the event also comes in the lightweight division, this one between Matt Frevola (9-3-1) and the returning Ottman Azaitar (13-0).
This fight was initially slated to go down on January 24, 2021, at UFC 257, the night Conor McGregor returned to rematch Dustin Poirier.
However, Azaitar breached Covid-19 protocols and the fight was pulled. He was also released from the UFC considering his mishap, but they’ve decided to give the Moroccan talent another chance.
And, who better to match him against than the man he was initially scheduled to face anyway?
Matt Frevola, though he’s had his hiccups, is an absolute tank of a man. He’s gone 3-3-1 since coming over to the UFC, defeating the likes of Jalin Turner (UD), Luis Pena (SD), and Genaro Valdez (TKO), losing to Polo Reyes (KO), Arman Tsarukyan (UD), and Terrance McKinney (KO), and battling to a draw with Lando Vannata.
Ottman Azaitar on the other hand has of course never tasted defeat, and he’s 2-0 inside the octagon; the first victory coming via KO over Teemu Packalen in September of 2019, and the second coming via TKO over Khama Worthy in September of 2020.
Azaitar hasn’t fought since then, but he’s used to long gaps between his fights.
Prior to joining the UFC, he hadn’t fought in 13 months, and his fight before that, where he claimed the Brave CF lightweight championship, was ten months prior to that one.
Of Frevola’s nine wins, two come via knockout with three submissions and four decisions, while of Azaitar’s 13 wins, ten come via knockout with two submissions and one decision.
Who comes out on top in this lightweight encounter going down at UFC 281?
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