You know how there are occasionally veteran players in the stick-and-ball sports who don’t reach the top tier until after having bounced around a little, at a time when most people were convinced their window of opportunity had closed, only for them to catch on and become the heartwarming story of the season?
Khama Worthy is the UFC lightweight version of that athlete.
He turned pro in 2012, lost two of his first three fights (including one to some guy named Paul Felder) and then spent the next several years making the rounds on the regional circuit, bouncing through promotions while often landing on the wrong side of the results in those crucial fights that had the potential to carry him to the next level.
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But since losing to current UFC featherweight Kyle Nelson, who takes on another man who bested Worthy on the regional scene, Billy Quarantillo, next week, the now 33-year-old Pittsburgh resident has rattled off seven consecutive victories, including a pair of wins inside the Octagon.
Last summer, “The Deathstar” pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the year when he arrived on short notice and slept his former training partner Devonte Smith in the first round at UFC 241. When he returned to work at the end of June, Worthy earned a second straight stoppage victory over a promising young fighter as he submitted Luis Pena.
Now, the streaking veteran looks to make it three in a row as he takes on undefeated powerhouse Ottman Azaitar on Saturday night. The 30-year-old Azaitar has blasted his way through a dozen consecutive opponents, including finishing Teemu Packalen in his promotional debut last September at UFC 242, and shows promise, which makes him the ideal candidate to share the cage with Worthy this weekend.
It’s rare that fighters work their way to the UFC in their early 30s after kicking around the regional scene for a number of years, and even more rare that they make the most of it the way that Worthy has thus far. His two-win rookie campaign was a tremendous tale of perseverance, and it will be really interesting to see if he can keep it up as he kicks off his sophomore year on the UFC roster on Saturday night in Las Vegas.
