LOS ANGELES – Ottman Azaitar, along with his brother Abu, have put Morocco on the UFC map.
They both notched wins in their UFC debuts, with Abu picking up a victory over Vitor Miranda in 2018, and Ottman following suit in September, delivering a knockout of the year contender over Teemu Packalen at UFC 242.
With African-born fighters in the UFC making waves, including newly crowned champions Kamaru Usman and Israel Adesanya, Azaitar thinks it’s the perfect time for the UFC to head to his home continent.
And he believes Morocco is the perfect African country to host an event.
“We are working with Ali (Abdelaziz) to bring the UFC to Morocco,” Azaitar said during Tuesday’s Dominance MMA media event. “UFC have to come to Africa, we showed that we are able to take over in the UFC, and now we want the UFC to come to Africa, and welcome in Morocco. We’re going to make it happen, it’s everything easy, everything is set up there, just come. Let’s do it.”
In his last fight before his UFC debut, Azaitar (12-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC) headlined an event in his home country of Morocco in 2018, at Brave Combat Federation 14, where he scored a 32-second knockout, defending his lightweight title.
“I already had one fight in Morocco, MMA fight, we have everything,” Azaitar said. “We have a good healthcare, we have good infrastructure, we have good flights, we have good hotels, we have good venues, we have everything already in Morocco. Some people don’t know what’s going on in Morocco but my brother Kamaru Usman and Henry Cejudo just came back from Morocco and they saw, and they can tell you.”
The Azaitars are some of the most popular athletes in Morocco, and even have a camp set up in the city of Rabat, where they often train. With UFC middleweight champion Adesanya recently plugging Morocco as an ideal first UFC visit to an African nation, it could become a targeted destination for the UFC in the near future.
Ottman Azaitar: I'm working with UFC on bringing event to Morocco