The undefeated streak of the “Bulldozer” Ottman Azaitar – an MMA fighter who hails from Germany, stands at an astounding record of 13 wins and zero losses since he made his scintillating MMA pro debut in 2014.
Ottman Azaitar was born on February 20th, 1990 in the Federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Cologne, Germany to Moroccan immigrant parents.
He is the younger brother of MMA fighter Abu Azaitar, who has fought once in the UFC.
He made headlines when he met the Moroccan king and posted a royal snap on Instagram. Previously he was also spotted in a picture alongside Prince Albert of Monaco and Sheikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa – the Bahraini prince who founded the MMA promotion BRAVE FC. He trains with the Jupps Fight team based in Germany.
Since his childhood, he was immensely interested in sports and soon, by the age of 10, learned the techniques of jiu jitsu martial arts before switching to Thai boxing and kickboxing.
His early career saw him fighting mainly in the regional German promotions like Fair Fighting Championship and German MMA Championship (GMC). He also fought in BRAVE Combat Federation – the largest MMA promotion in the Middle East, said to be the fastest growing MMA promotion in the world.
He fought his first match in pro mixed martial arts against Patrick Talmon on June 7th, 2014 at a regional German promotion.
He made his debut in the lightweight division of the UFC in 2019 against Teemu Packalen at UFC 242, which was highlighted by the main event, Khabib vs Poirier. He authoritatively knocked Teemu Packalen out within the first round of the match.
Next, he fought against Khama Worthy at UFC Fight Night: Waterson vs Hill. The event took place at Sept. 20, 2020 at UFC Apex Facility in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. He won the match via technical knockout in the first round.
His next fight was scheduled on 23rd January, 2021 against Matt Frevola at UFC 257. But things took a sharp turn for the worse as he was found guilty of violating the quarantine measures put in place by the UFC. For Covid-19 health and safety measures the UFC implemented a “bubble system” where fighters would have to stay in a “Fight Island” facility on Yas Island, UAE. Fighters were not allowed to physically interact with the outside world until the event’s end.
Eventually UFC President, Dana White fired him before the bout, announcing the news on Friday, January 22, in an interview with BT Sport. “He’s gone. He’s no longer a UFC fighter,” White said.
In his interview with BT Sport, White narrated what happened: “He and his team cut off their wrist bands, gave them to somebody outside the bubble, I don’t know how they even did it. That guy taped them, showed up here with a bag, went into a room, shimmied across four balconies, went in Azaitar’s room, dropped the bag off, changed his clothes, and then left,” he added.
Though, Ottman has competed in some of the most notable promotions in Europe including Cage Warriors, KSW and Absolute Championship Berkut, (now known as Absolute Championship Akhmat, or ACA), a very shaky history accompanies him.
According to reports, he has alleged ties with criminal clans like that of the notorious Abou Chaker from Lebanon. Ottman Azaitar was previously imprisoned in the year 2003 over fighting and theft charges. It should be noted that he has not been implicated in any crimes ever since he has dedicated his life to MMA.
Now you’ve got a bit of a back story on this German Fighter of Moroccan origin, let’s get into this hotlist of the “Bulldozer’s” best, high-impact moves – as we breakdown Ottman Azaitar’s Top 5 MMA Finishes! (in descending order)
- Vs. Lukasz Szczerek – GMC 8 (April 16, 2016)
- Vs. Danijel Kokora – BRAVE CF 14 (Aug. 18, 2018)
- Vs. Khama Worthy – UFC Fight Night 177 (Sept. 12, 2020)
- Vs. Teemu Packalen – UFC 242 (Sept. 7, 2019)
- Vs. Charlie Leary – BRAVE FC 4 (March 31, 2017)
Before this fight, both fighters were carrying on an undefeated streak in their respective careers. This bout featured Ottman Azaitar against the Polish MMA fighter Lukasz Szczerek at German MMA Championship 8.
At 16 seconds into round one, Azaitar struck out with two jabs as Lukasz created a slight opening without moving his feet much. Ottman kept intimidating his opponent moving forward towards him in striking posture.
Lukasz remained in the same stance and this made it very easy for Azaitar to rethink and execute his next move efficiently.
At 48 seconds into the round, Azaitar landed back-to-back punches and jabs as Lukasz was forced towards ringside. The referee intervened at 54 seconds as Azaitar pounded his opponent with ruthless right hands. Lukasz had no answer or counter to Ottman’s accelerating aggression leading him to win the match via knockout.
The crowd went bonkers as Azaiter and Danijel Kokora locked horns on the main fight of the night of BRAVE CF 14.
As the match began, Azaitar traversed down his opponent switching stances, and at 24 seconds into round one, hurled a left-hand jab which Kokora didn’t see coming, thus causing him to stumble to the ground.
Azaiter lost no time and went straight for the ground and pound onslaught, raining unrelenting punches and iron fists right upon Kokora’s nose and face. The referee intervened at 32 seconds into the round with Azaitar winning this compact bout by KO.
Ottman Azaitar was next up against the American MMA fighter Khama Worthy at the UFC APEX facility in Las Vegas, Nevada.
At 1 minute into round one, Khama went for a left hand jab to which Azaitar fired back with a combination of left and right hand jabs. At a minute, 18 seconds into the round, Khama hurled a low kick as Ottman brutally punished him back with a fierce right and a left hand jab of his own to Khama’s face.
Azaiter then began to unleash upon Khama – with a brutal assault of jabs and punches to his face, after which Khama quickly lay helpless on the ground, Azaitar had ferociously knocked him out. The referee hurriedly intervened at 1 minute 33 seconds into the round to call the stop.
This match was tagged the UFC Fight Night Performance of the Night.
This was Ottman Azaitar’s debut match in the lightweight division of the UFC in the year 2019 against Teemu Packalen at UFC 242 (highlighted by the main event: Khabib vs Poirier).
As the match began, Ottman changed positions and moved around swiftly whilst keeping a sharp eye on his opponent. At 39 seconds into round one, Azaitar rocked his opponent with a right hand as he counters a Packalen hook.
Azaiter threatens his opponent as he dances towards him looking for a takedown. At 1 minute 9 seconds into the round, Azaitar lands a huge right hand to Packalen’s face, following it up with right and left hand jabs as they grapple near each other.
At 1 minute 35 seconds into round one, Ottman again rocked Teemu with ruthless punches as he took guard by moving out of harm’s way. Then came an extremely ruthless right hand punch to which the commentators exclaimed; OH! Wow, such a huge right hand! towards Teemu Packalen as he takes a fall, lying unconscious on the ground at 3 minutes, 33 seconds of round one.
Ottman Azaitar won the match via knockout. This match is ranked the 35th Best MMA Knockout of the Year, 2019. This match also earned the honour of UFC 242’s Performance of the Night.
British MMA fighter, Charlie was on a roll with five consecutive victories before this match.
At 9 seconds into round one, Charlie stunned Ottman Azaitar with a left and a right-hand jab. Azaitar fell to the ground as Charlie went in for the ground and pound.
Everyone felt that a technical knockout was inevitable but Azaitar kept himself alive in the match by showing great presence of mind as he kept crawling towards Charlie and stood up.
At 20 seconds into round one, Charlie unleashed brutal left and right-hand jabs and hooks but here was a great show of courage displayed by the “Bulldozer” as he absorbed all those major blows without giving up.
At 1 minute into the round, it was now the turn of a bleeding Azaitar as he assaulted Charlie with right and left-hand punches ultimately going in for the ground and pound on Charlie. Azaitar also attempted a choke at 1 minute, 25 seconds into the bout.
Would you think there were any more twists left in this match? The commentators were enthralled as they exclaimed, “WOW! The most exciting round I have seen in years!” as Charlie manages to withstand the pressure and stand up with the Bulldozer mounted on his neck and get away.
Both fighters continued to destroy each other with neither looking to back down regardless of the amount of pain they were forced to bear.
Azaiter then ransacked his opponent with scores of punches and hooks – which proved to be the last straw that broke the camel’s back as Charlie gradually faded to the ground. The referee hurriedly intervened at 2 minutes and 22 seconds of round one to call the fight.
Ottman won the match via knockout. This match is ranked the 87th Best MMA Fight of the Year for 2017.
