One more show, UFC Tampa, stands between the UFC and a one-month holiday break. While the start of college football’s bowl season takes place on Saturday afternoon and evening in Atlanta and Montgomery, AL for the Celebration Bowl and the Salute to Heroes Bowl, not everyone’s going to be watching touchdowns get thrown.
Seven days removed from MMA‘s top promotion’s last pay-per-view event of 2024, the promotion heads to the southern half of the United States. St. Petersburg, FL’s Amalie Arena, the home rink of the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning, serves as the host venue for UFC Tampa this coming Saturday night.
As far as linear television is concerned, due to ESPN’s coverage of the 2024 Heisman Trophy Presentation and the broadcast of the aforementioned Salute to Heroes Bowl immediately following, UFC Tampa will be seen wall-to-wall beginning at 7 pm ET/ 4 pm PT with prelims on ESPN+.
Note: ESPN2 will join UFC Tampa in progress at 9:30 pm ET/ 6:30 pm PT after its coverage of the NCAA Division I Women’s Volleyball Tournament.
Main card action closes out the night at 10 pm ET/ 7 pm PT on ESPN2 and ESPN+.
Looking at Key Fights in UFC Tampa Undercard
While the night as a whole is headlined by a welterweight tussle matching Colby Covington (17-4 MMA, 12-4 UFC) and Joaquin Buckley (20-6 MMA, 10-4 UFC) in the former’s return after a one-year hiatus from competition, there are a number of important contests taking place during the UFC Tampa prelims earlier on in the evening on Saturday. It’s time now to take a gander at a few of these bouts.
UFC Tampa Featured Prelim: Lightweight: Michael Johnson vs. Ottman Azaitar
At the top of the bill in the undercard portion of Saturday evening’s UFC finale for 2024, action takes place in the 155-lb. division. 41-fight veteran Michael Johnson (22-19 MMA, 14-15 UFC) will make his 30th walk to the famed Octagon when he squares off against Ottman Azaitar (13-2 MMA, 2-2 UFC).
Michael Johnson will fight Ottman Azaitar at #UFCTampa on December 14th. (first rep. @AmalieArena Event Info) #UFC #MMA #UFCESPN #UFC2024 pic.twitter.com/nVGHEU92Yo
— Marcel Dorff 🇳🇱🇮🇩 (@BigMarcel24) October 30, 2024
Johnson enters the final event of the year having posted a mark of 3-2 in his last five fights inside the cage, alternating wins and losses in his last four contests. He hasn’t fought in 10 months’ time, however.
On Feb. 10, during UFC Vegas 86 at the UFC Apex facility in Enterprise, NV, he scored a unanimous decision victory over Darrius Flowers (12-8-1 MMA, 0-3 UFC) after three rounds during the second bout of the main card. Since then, he’s been taking time off to recuperate from an injury that forced him off of UFC St. Louis against Matt Frevola (11-5-1 MMA, 5-5-1 UFC) back in May of this year. Can he win his second contest in a row?
In the other corner, Ottman Azaitar has gone 3-2 in his own right and is currently on a two-fight losing streak. Like Michael Johnson, Azaitar is coming in having not set foot inside the cage in a long while, with his most recent appearance having been a July 15, 2023 defeat at the hands of Francisco Prado (12-2 MMA, 1-2 UFC.)
At the core, the featured prelim on Saturday night is a story of two fighters at a crossroads: A veteran fighter takes on a competitor still in the young stages of his career. Who emerges victorious?
UFC Tampa Co-Featured Prelim: Featherweight: Drakkar Klose vs. Joel Alvarez
Immediately beforehand, lightweights make the walk in Tampa when Drakkar Klose (15-2-1 MMA, 9-2 MMA) collides with Joel Alvarez (21-3 MMA, 6-2 UFC). Heading into the co-featured prelim, Klose has posted a mark of 4-1 in his last five fights.
Currently, he’s won four contests in succession dating back to April of 2022. Last time out, he scored a unanimous decision victory on May 4 during UFC 301 against Joaquim Silva (13-5 MMA, 6-5 UFC) in an undercard fight. A fifth consecutive victory in the co-featured prelim could propel Drakkar Klose to a spot on the main card when he returns at some point in 2025.
Joel Alvarez also comes into the co-featured prelim sporting a 4-1 record. By comparison, however, he’s only on a two-fight winning streak heading into this weekend. Most recently, he scored a third-round knockout by way of knee strikes followed by ground and pound versus Elves Brenner (16-5 MMA, 3-2 UFC) on Aug. 3. This looks to be an interesting fight on Saturday during UFC Tampa.
Drakkar Klose will fight Joel Álvarez at #UFCTampa on December 14th. (first rep. @KOlmeneroMMA) #UFC #MMA #UFCESPN #UFC2024 pic.twitter.com/iy15jfhWlq
— Marcel Dorff 🇳🇱🇮🇩 (@BigMarcel24) October 24, 2024
Featherweight: Miles Johns vs. Felipe Lima
Further down the undercard is a featherweight tilt matching Miles Johns (15-2 MMA, 6-2 UFC) against 14-fight veteran Felipe Lima (13-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC), who will be looking to make good off of a successful UFC promotional debut in June of this year. Johns enters UFC Tampa on Saturday night having gone 4-0 with one no-contest in his last five appearances.
Most recently, he bested Douglas da Silva de Andrade (29-6 MMA, 7-6 UFC) on June 15. Johns was supposed to have fought Cody Garbrandt (14-6 MMA, 9-6 UFC) this fall, first on Oct. 12, then on Nov. 9, both at the UFC Apex. Garbrandt was unable to make the walk to the Octagon because of injury.
🚨FIGHT UPDATE🚨
After Cody Garbrandts withdraw from #UFCVegas100…
Miles Johns will now take on Felipe Lima at #UFCTampa‼️
(Per @FrontkickOnline) pic.twitter.com/QmbJpTuwPk
— MMA Casuals (@MMA_CASUALS_) November 8, 2024
This is Miles Johns’ third scheduled fight in as many months to end 2024. Barring any further unforeseen changes, he’ll finally step into the cage once again this weekend.
Felipe Lima, an alumnus of Oktagon MMA, comes into this weekend’s show having posted a record of 5-0 in his last five fights. Last time out, the onetime Oktagon MMA Bantamweight Champion made his first-ever walk in the UFC, scoring a third-round submission victory (rear-naked choke) over Muhammad Naimov (11-3 MMA, 3-1 UFC) during the June 22 UFC on ABC 6 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on the ABC television network.
Although this is only going to be Lima’s sophomore appearance in MMA’s No. 1 promotion, he’s already put together a solid resume inside the cage. He’s a young man who has already secured championships in three different organizations and has won 11 fights in succession.
Final Thoughts
The UFC has put together a solid undercard for UFC Tampa on Saturday night. Don’t forget to tune in early.
