UFC Fight Night 177: Waterson vs. Hill - Predictions and Picks

#2 UFC Lightweight Division: Khama Worthy vs. Ottman Azaitar

Khama Worthy has been a surprising UFC success thus far into his run with the promotion

Every now and then, the UFC stumbles its way into a potential star by plucking a fighter from the regional circuit for a late-notice bout, only for said fighter to turn out to be a killer. Is Khama Worthy about to join that list? Judging on his past showings, there’s every possibility.

‘The Deathstar’ was signed by the UFC last summer as a late-notice replacement for John Makdessi in a fight with prospect Devonte Smith. Nobody really expected him to pull off anything special given Smith had won two UFC fights by KO, but instead, Worthy stunned everyone by outboxing him and finishing him inside a round.

It took Worthy nearly a year to be called back into action, and when he did return it was as an underdog again. Luis Pena appeared to be hitting his stride coming into the bout, but somehow Worthy pulled off the win – incredibly, submitting the grappler with a tight guillotine choke.

Is ‘The Deathstar’ a future UFC title contender? In all honesty probably not, as he’s already 33 years old and has 6 career losses, all by finish, including defeats to fighters who washed out of the UFC. But he’s clearly a very dangerous fighter who could well become a staple on Fight Night cards for a while yet.

This fight should be full of action to say the least. Azaitar – the brother of fellow UFC fighter Abu – is a highly dangerous striker with 9 KO or TKO wins to his name. His UFC debut came last September, when it took him just over three minutes to spark out Teemu Packalen.

Sure, Packalen’s striking defense is lacking to say the least, but Azaitar showed brutal power, a lot of speed, and plenty of precision. That could bode well against Worthy, who did show a penchant for taking a shot to give one back when he fought Smith in his UFC debut.

With that said though, ‘The Deathstar’ did show a good chin. And the fact that he was able to catch a fighter like Pena with a submission shows that he’s much more than the one-dimensional striker his debut suggested. To be fair, ‘The Bulldozer’ does have two submissions to his name too – but none against a grappler as good as Pena.

This one could honestly go either way given the striking talents of both men and the fact that they’re likely to come out to trade, but I’m siding with the more proven UFC talent and the man who appears to have more tools to take the win with.

The Pick: Worthy via second-round TKO