This morning we had the weight-ins for UFC 257 and the PPV lost one of the fights on the main card. While reasons are still unknown at this time, Jon Anik announced that the main card bout between Matt Frevola (8-1-1) and Ottman Azaitar (13-0) was off.
It’s worth noting that Frevola did successfully weigh-in at 155.5 pounds for UFC 257. However, we never saw Azaitar this morning. The word is that Frevola will now serve as a backup for one of the other lightweight bouts on the card should someone else fall out.
This was a fight that I was very intrigued by. Azaitar has looked sensational since he made his UFC debut back in 2019. He’s scored two devastating first round knockouts including one over Khama Worthy.
The Bulldozer looks like he can be a force at 155 pounds. Matt Frevola is riding a two-fight winning streak of his own. “The Steamrolla” was supposed to be a really good test for Azaitar to see just where he’s at in the lightweight division.
Frevola last fought in October of 2019 when he defeated Luis Pena. Frevola had a couple of UFC fights fall through in 2020 and that kept him out. After a year off, you can imagine that Frevola is very frustrated with the developments this morning.
The UFC’s Plan
As mentioned, the UFC’s plan is for Frevola to stick around. There are several lightweight bouts on the card and should someone fallout, he would be there to step in. It’s hard to say what the promotion will do when it comes to the original Azaitar – Frevola fight.
We still don’t know what exactly happened with Azaitar, however, we can likely assume it was a weight cutting issue. This is a really good matchup on paper and I wouldn’t be shocked to see the UFC put this together again soon should Frevola not compete tomorrow night.