Michael Johnson Just FLATLINED Ottman Azaitar And Bounced His Head Off The Canvas At UFC Tampa

Holy moly - that was violent. Tonight is the final UFC card of the year, and clearly, we're closing it out with a bang. Michael Johnson is still doing the damn thing at 38 years old and putting out great performances and instant-bonus-earning knockouts. And some extra follow up shots that are very questionably necessary.

Do you guys remember when Ottman Azaitar got fired by the way? He had a teammate breach the COVID barrier on Fight Island in the middle of the pandemic, then he scaled the side of the hotel with a bag to deliver to Azaitar post-weight ins. Everyone with at least half a brain assumes there was some sorta illegal IV being delivered in that bag, but Azaitar claimed it was a PlayStation. He was fiending for a game of Fortnite so bad he had a teammate go full-on Mission Impossible and get him fired. Yeah okay buddy. Likely story. 

He got rehired for some reason after that, but he's been knocked out three consecutive times since. He's probably done now.

Michael Johnson on the other hand says he has a lot left in the tank, and I believe him. He's still a savage in there and there's a ton of fun fights left for him in that division. Again - I can't condone the VICIOUS follow up shots that bounced Azaitar's head off the mat like a basketball….but that's just MMA sometimes. You fight until the ref pulls you off of your opponent. It is what it is.

As far as other finishes go, Sean Woodson sent Fernando Padilla FLYING backwards with a huge first round knockout earlier tonight….

….and speaking of insane extra punches, Joel Álvarez basically murdered Drakkar Klose and then held him up for a couple more shots not realizing he was already knocked out….

It's been a pretty great card so far and there's still a bunch of fights left (the main card is only just starting) so tune into ESPN+ if you're interested.