Khama Worthy wants to finish what he started against Ottman Azaitar

Khama Worthy had no doubt he wanted to fight Ottman Azaitar.

Some fighters let go of scheduled bouts which get canceled. Worthy was supposed to fight Azaitar in April, only to have the bout canceled due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

But after Worthy beat Luis Pena on June 27, he decided it was time to finish what he started. Worthy put nearly three months of training into the first scheduled fight date with Azaitar and didn’t want it all to go for naught.

So that’s why Worthy (16-6 MMA, 2-0 UFC) is happy he’s going to finally throw down with Azaitar (12-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC) in the co-main event of UFC on ESPN+ 35 on Saturday night at UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

“I actually asked for this fight right after my last fight,” Worthy said at a virtual media day Thursday. “My manager asked me if I wanted this fight, simply because we prepared for it for so long. For the April card, I found out about I was going to fight in April (back) in January, so I prepared for – I just wanted to finish it. I hate doing stuff and not really getting the result. Whether I did good did or did bad, I want to see how it happens. So I want to put the finishing touches on this one.”

In the meantime, Worthy had his first UFC Apex experience when he submitted Pena with a guillotine. It was quite a contrast from his UFC debut, when he electrified the crowd at Honda Center in California with a left hook knockout of Devonte Smith as a late replacement at UFC 241.

“It’s weird; the whole no fans thing was weird, being able to hear everything, including hearing the punches and being able to hear your opponent’s breathing,” Worthy said. “You only normally get that when you’re training with your partners or training at a gym.

“That was the biggest thing for me, hearing their heartbeat, hearing their breathing, hearing when they are picking up their breathing stuff like that.”

Fans in the building or no, Worthy wants to build on his burgeoning reputation as a fighter who brings the fans excitement. And he has a gut feeling he’s found himself the right dance partner when the cage is locked Saturday night.

“He’s what, a 90 percent finish rate?” Worthy asked. “He has nine knockouts, two submissions. I have nine knockouts, three submissions. I assume that we match up pretty well, so from what I see, he comes to fight.

“I think it’s a fun fight for the fans, win or lose. Win or lose, I definitely think I’m going to win, but win or lose, I’m going to keep pushing things up.”