Rabat – Morocco is set to become the first African venue for a UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) event.
German-Moroccan lightweight fighter Ottman Azaitar said earlier this week that he and his brother Abu, also a fighter, are working with a UFC team to make Morocco the venue of the company’s first African event.
“We are working with Ali (Abdelaziz) to bring the UFC to Morocco,” Azaitar said on Tuesday. “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, and everything is set up there, just come. Let’s do it.”
As more African fighters impress UFC audiences, a UFC fight in Africa is just a matter of time, MMA Junkie reported yesterday.
While echoing that sentiment, Azaitar, visibly excited to feature in a UFC-sponsored fight in front of a crowd in his home country, suggested there is no point in waiting for months and years before Morocco gets the UFC nod. Morocco is ready and has all the infrastructure it takes to host a UFC event, he said.
Azaitar explained: “I already had one fight in Morocco, MMA fight, we have everything. 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 Moroccan’s remarks come a month after he graced UFC fans with one of the purest, most impressive knockout wins in the sport. Taking on Finland’s Teemu Packalen in on September 7 in Abu Dhabi, Azaitar delivered what has since been touted “the scariest knockouts in recent history.”
