Pittsburgh-area UFC fighter Khama Worthy itching for a fight June 27 in Las Vegas
Local fighter Khama Worthy is ready to step back into the octagon.
Actually, the Moon native is more than ready.
On June 27, Worthy (15-6) will take on 6-foot-3 Californian Luis Pena (8-2) at UFC on ESPN 12, and it’s been a long time coming.
Worthy was scheduled to fight against Michael Johnson at UFC 249 on April 18 before UFC president Dana White called off the event a little over a week before it was supposed to take place because of the coronavirus pandemic. When it was rescheduled for May 9 in Florida, Worthy wasn’t on the card.
The last time Worthy fought was his UFC debut Aug. 17 when he upset Devonte Smith on four days notice.
“I’m really excited. It’s been a long 10 months,” Worthy said before a training session at his gym, The Academy of Martial Arts and Fitness, in Pittsburgh’s West End. “It’s almost been a year since I fought last. There’s been a lot of craziness. Fights getting canceled, switching opponents, fights never happening. I’m just ready to get back in there and just actually fight.”
This time around, the atmosphere and procedures for the fight might be a little different. First, there won’t be any fans in attendance at the UFC APEX training center in Las Vegas because of precautions being taken due to covid-19. Worthy also said fighters will be quarantined heading into the fight. He is due to arrive in Vegas on Tuesday night.
As far as not having fans in attendance, Worthy said he isn’t going to overthink the atmosphere.
“I don’t want to think it’s one way and then it’s another way,” Worthy said. “I think it’s going to be kind of like when you’re sparring with your training partner, except you’re just trying to kill the person. When I train here, my coaches give information and stuff, so I just kind of take it as close to that as possible.”
Heading into the lightweight bout on the undercard of a Dustin Poirier-Dan Hooker main event, Worthy is on a six-bout win streak dating to the beginning of 2018. Pena has won three of his past four fights. His most recent victory was a unanimous decision over Steve Garcia on Feb. 29, a few weeks before events were shut down.
Looking at the matchup, Pena is four inches taller than Worthy and has a reach that is four inches longer. Despite his opponent’s size advantage, Worthy has settled into a game plan.
“He’s a pretty tall guy and he’s a southpaw, so there are definitely things that he can do well, but there are also things that make him vulnerable,” Worthy said. “So we’ve been working on different stuff, and now it’s time to go just put it into action.”
Despite his success, the 33-year-old isn’t a favorite heading into his 22nd professional fight. Vegas odds have Worthy as a plus-205 underdog, and according to the analytics at tapology.com, Pena has a 74% chance of winning the fight. Being the underdog is nothing new to Worthy, and he doesn’t have a problem with it either.
“I know what I’m capable of, so I never really cared about any of that,” Worthy said. “I just roll with it; I’ll probably be the underdog forever.”
When Worthy upset Smith last year, he was a plus-640 underdog and Smith had won 15 of his last 17 fights. Now, as he heads into yet another challenge in his first fight of 2020, he’s just ready to stay in the moment.
“That’s the biggest thing. That’s thing I can really control when it comes to fighting,” Worthy said. “I don’t really like to overthink. Don’t underestimate, but don’t overthink because if you try to plan a whole bunch of (stuff) and then it doesn’t happen, I just like to go out there and show up. I know all the hard work I put in and as long as I give my 100%, I’ll be satisfied.”
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