Azaitar was famously fired from the UFC after breaking COVID-19 protocols to sneak a mystery bag onto Fight Island. So what was in the bag?
Ottman Azaitar returns to the UFC this weekend for the first time since September 2020. And with his return comes more rampant speculation about what was in the bag that resulted in his two year break from competing.
Azaitar is fighting Matt Frevola at UFC 281 in a bout that was originally supposed to go down back in January 2021 on Fight Island. This was back during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and Fight Island was part genius marketing scheme and part lockdown bubble fortress. The Coronavirus never managed to pierce the protective shell the UAE placed around UFC events — but a mystery associate of Azaitar did.
Two days before the event, the UFC announced Ottman Azaitar was off UFC 257 and being cut from the organization. The reason why is still one of the craziest stories we’ve heard over our 20 years covering the sport.
“He and his team cut their wristbands off and got them to people on the outside,” UFC president Dana White explained. “One guy, this guy got inside the bubble, went in through a room, shimmied down four balconies, went in through [Azaitar’s] balcony, and dropped off a bag of we don’t know what. Then he changed his clothes and went back outside of the bubble. We got everything on camera, we saw the whole thing, and how it all went down, pulled his fight and cut him.”
Cooler heads prevailed and Azaitar was let back into the UFC a few months later, with his manager Ali Abdelaziz calling the whole situation a “misunderstanding.” But we still want to know: what was in the bag? Azaitar has refused to say. And during the media interviews for UFC 281, press finally got to grill him on the subject.
“Are you tired of fans and media asking ‘What was in the bag?’” one reporter asked.
“No, not really, I’m not tired” Azaitar said. “No problem, they can ask.”
“What was in the bag?” another reporter called out.
“You see? They can ask, no problem.” Azaitar said with a smile before falling silent.
“You’re not going to tell us though?” the first reporter prompted.
“No problem, you can ask,” Ottman repreated. “But the thing is … uh … so I’m not confirming anything by what I am saying now. But let’s say I have now a bag with me. Let’s say I come into the room with a bag. Why would you ask me ‘What’s in the bag?’”
USADA clearly has their own ideas on what was in the bag. Following the incident, the drug testing agency tested him 26 times in 2021 alone. Things chilled out in 2022, and Ottman Azaitar has only been tested six times this year. Possibly because USADA is busy giving Jiri Prochazka the Azaitar treatment. The light heavyweight champion has been tested over 20 times in a month leading up to his UFC 282 fight against Glover Teixeira.
Ottman Azaitar comes into UFC 281 with a perfect 12-0 record, two knockouts in his two UFC fights, and his own bag.