As event after event was wiped off the professional sports docket by the coronavirus pandemic, one entry remained as if it had been scribbled on the calendar in permanent marker.

UFC 249. April 18. Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Tony Ferguson.

It is one of the biggest fights of the year in mixed martial arts, and even as he called off a series of lesser cards scheduled for March and April, UFC president Dana White steadfastly has insisted the fight will take place.

Khama Worthy is grateful for that.

Worthy, a Moon Township native, is fighting undefeated lightweight Ottman Azaitar on the undercard.

It is a seminal moment in his UFC career, and he wouldn’t miss it for the world.

“There are always concerns,” Worthy said. “For me, with the way the coronavirus works, you never know. I have a baby. My baby’s almost 2. I might have to go get her something from Walmart. I could catch it there because someone touched a door. I’m concerned, but it is what it is. It’s the current situation.”

To understand why Worthy is so grateful UFC 249 hasn’t been canceled, it is important to understand his unusual path to a UFC contract.

Worthy was homeschooled growing up in Moon and had little experience with organized sports. He was always athletic, though, playing a little basketball and showing some interest in traditional martial arts because his dad did.

“I wanted to be a big NBA player, but my body gave out on that,” Worthy said with a laugh. “I got to 5-11 and cut off.”

When he got old enough to pursue a career, Worthy again took an untraditional approach. He moved to New York to become a model.

One day, while hitting a heavy bag as part of his workout regimen, an acquaintance asked if he ever considered mixed martial arts. He learned about the sport and fell in love, moving back to Western Pennsylvania to start training in earnest.

“When I first started training, I didn’t miss a day of class for like four years,” Worthy said. “I would be there all the time, to the point where my coach would have to kick me out. I think I made up for a lot of missed opportunities because I worked so hard at it.”

That is where the quirky, fun part of Worthy’s origin story ends. From that point on, it has been a grind.

Making his pro debut in 2012, Worthy toiled on the regional MMA scene for seven years before hitting the big time.

Shed no tears for Worthy. He fought in nice venues such as the Meadows, the Rivers and Printscape Arena at Southpointe. He had good opponents, squaring off with UFC star Paul Felder in his third pro fight, for instance.

But this was no easy climb. Fifteen fights into his pro career, Worthy had a 9-6 record. He wasn’t an overnight success.

“I tell people all the time, ‘If you’re in fighting because you want to make money and you think it’s going to be a lot of fun, you’re not going to like it because you’re going to almost go broke, first of all,’ ” Worthy said.

“You have no money when you start training because all of your time has to go towards training. You have no social life. I lost mad girlfriends. I missed family members’ birthday parties, graduations, missed holidays, missed going out with my friends, because all I was doing was training. That’s just how it is.”

Worthy’s big break came last June. Devonte Smith was scheduled to meet John Makdessi on the undercard of a UFC 241 show that was headlined by Daniel Cormier and Stipe Miocic.

A few days before the fight, Makdessi was injured. The first injury replacement UFC chose fell out as well. Worthy had won his previous five regional fights, putting himself on the UFC radar. When they called to ask if he would like to fight Smith on short notice, he jumped at the chance.

Three weeks after his last bout at Southpointe, five days after accepting the fight, Worthy squared off with Smith, a massive minus-1,200 favorite. Worthy popped him with a left hook and a right uppercut at the end of the first round and won his UFC debut by TKO.

It was a life-changing moment. At age 32, Worthy finally earned a four-fight UFC contract.

“It’s definitely a big deal,” Worthy said. “Not to tell people my finances, but I got a $50,000 bonus for my first fight in the UFC. It took four minutes and I made over $70,000. That’s really good. Fighting is a very expensive sport. It’s not like I’m making football money. But there is a big opportunity.

“The way that I fight, my exciting style of fighting, it promises a good financial career, so I can promote my gym and things like that and get some of my training partners to the UFC.”

That’s why Worthy is so grateful UFC 249 hasn’t been canceled.

It is a golden opportunity to raise his profile on a fight card all UFC fans will be watching. It is a chance to drum up invaluable publicity for the Pittsburgh Martial Arts and Fitness Academy, the gym he owns in Robinson. It is a chance to burnish the reputation of the Western Pennsylvania MMA scene as a whole.

Worthy doesn’t even know where the fight will take place. White has been trying to find a venue that will host it given current social distancing restrictions.

He can train with only one or two partners at a time, not the dozen or so who normally would be in the gym as he gets ready for a fight.

Circumstances couldn’t be less normal, but abnormal circumstances are where Worthy thrives.

“My coach was saying that,” Worthy said. “Only you would get a fight on five days notice and your next fight would be during a world crisis. Two awesome times to get UFC fights.”

Copyright ©2025— Trib Total Media, LLC (TribLIVE.com)