Who is Ottman Azaitar? Fighter once accused of carrying steroids set for UFC Vegas 77

Controversial UFC lightweight fighter Ottman Azaitar is set to return to the octagon six months after his only professional loss in mixed martial arts.

Azaitar is of Morrocan origin and was born in Cologne, Germany and was enrolled in a Saudi Arabian government-funded school where all subjects were exclusively taught in Arabic. Azaitar began his sports journey as a six-year-old boy by training jiu-jitsu. After four years, at the age of 10, Azaitar began training boxing, Muay Thai and kickboxing.

Azaitar won several junior titles and was the national Muay Thai champion in Germany. He also joined the German national Muay Thai team and participated in the world championship in Saint Petersburg in 2012.

'The Bulldozer' began his mixed martial arts career at regional German promotions before signing on with Brave Combat Federation. In his second Brave CF bout, he made his lightweight debut and then went on to win the inaugural Brave CF lightweight championship in the very next bout.

However, a failure to defend his title 'timely' resulted in him being released by the promotion. It led to Ottman Azaitar signing on with the UFC and making his debut against Teemu Packalén in Yas Island, Abu Dhabi at UFC 242. He won via knockout in the very first round, winning the Performance of the Night bonus.

His next fight against Khama Worthy was also a Performance of the Night bonus winner as he won via TKO again in the first round. Just days before his fight against Matt Frevola in 2021, Azaitar was cut from the promotion on the grounds of breaking safety protocol amidst an enforced bubble due to the pandemic.

He made his return to the promotion a month later in a rescheduled bout and lost in a first-round knockout to Matt Frevola. Azaitar is now set to return to action at UFC Vegas 77 against Francisco Prado, who lost his debut UFC fight at UFC 284: Makhachev vs. Volkanovski.

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Why was Ottman Azaitar cut from the UFC?

In January 2021, on the day of the weigh-ins for UFC 257, Ottman Azaitar was cut from the UFC.

Dana White released the following statement on the matter revealing that Azaitar and his teammate had breached safety protocols.

“He and his team cut their wristbands off and got them to people on the outside, one guy, This guy got inside the bubble, went in through a room, shimmied down four balconies, went in through (Azaitar's) balcony, and dropped off a bag of we don't know what. Then he changed his clothes and went back outside of the bubble."

However, former opponent Khama Worthy accused Ottman Azaitar of possessing steroids.

“He got caught for carrying potatoes. I’m 100% sure that motherf*cker was carrying steroids, I don’t give a f*ck what anyone says."

Check out Worthy's comments below: