UFC Fight Night : Max Holloway vs. Calvin Kattar – A Closer Look

Finally after what has felt like an eternity, we have live combat back inside the world-famous Octagon. Don’t get me wrong, it was great to see Golden Boy Promotions’ undefeated stand out and newly minted WBC interim lightweight champ, Ryan Garcia, stop Luke Campbell inside the distance two weeks ago but, once you have seen vicious knees, wicked elbows, kicks and punches thrown all while being beautifully intertwined with submission attempts it’s just hard to get as pumped up for anything else.

Nowadays fight fans want variety and it gets no more versatile and multi-layered than a battle inside the cage. And, what better way to start off 2021 than with an action-packed serving this Saturday featuring some world-class fighters when former 145lbs UFC king and Hawaii’s own Max Holloway headlines in Abu Dhabi versus Massachusetts’ Calvin Kattar. Here is a closer look at the headliner and what to look for once the cage door shuts for the main event of UFC Fight Night streaming entirely on ESPN+ with the main card available on the ABC network.

Massachusetts’ Calvin “The Boston Finisher” Kattar (22-4) is a technically sound striker with solid cardio who comes into this fight riding a two-fight winning streak. He has been a professional since 2007 and has put everything together right and just in time for the biggest fight of his career on Saturday night. Notable performances on the east coast fighter’s ledger include decisions over Andre Fili, Shane Burgos, Dan Ige and TKO finishes of veteran Jeremy Stephens, and one-time UFC title challenger Ricardo Lamas. The most recent of his triumphs was his first main event slot opposite Hawaii’s Dan Ige. When the lights shined the brightest “The Boston Finisher” masterfully kept the battle at his range, peppering his man with crisp jabs and combinations while mixing in attacks to the head and body. His ring IQ has only gotten sharper as have his hands; Kattar’s boxing is stellar as he chooses to lead with clean hooks or use them to rip to the body at the end of combinations effortlessly. And, he shows awareness of disrupting his foe’s rhythm by blending in take down attempts as soon as he feels that he is losing Octagon control. Check out the 25-minute battle versus Dan Ige last July to witness his absolute best performance even though it was not a strikes-friendly finish like the 2nd round destruction of Jeremy Stephens just months prior in May of the same year. Kattar has evolved into a player in the featherweight division and the call for the main stage on ABC primetime TV could not have come at better time for the 32-year old.

Former UFC 145lbs king and Hawaii’s own, Max “Blessed” Holloway (21-6) comes into this featherweight main event on Fight Night riding a two-fight losing streak. Ironically enough the ex-titlist is experiencing the worst skid of his MMA career in years and surprisingly is still a 2-1 betting favorite. The professional MMA fighter since 2010 remains a force to be reckoned with sliding into this 25-minute duel holding finishes over Brian Ortega, Andre Fili, Cub Swanson, Charles Oliveira, former WEC and UFC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis and former WEC and UFC 145lbs champion Jose aldo twice, and both coincidentally in the 3rd round . In contrast to his Boston-born opponent he has gone the distance with both Jeremy Stephens and Ricardo Lamas even though he clearly outpointed both warriors. The conductor of what he deems as the “Blessed Express” lost his title back in December of 2019 in Las Vegas via UD to now division ruler Alexander Volanovski. Max took the immediate rematch last summer at UFC 251: Usman vs. Masvidal and came up short once again versus Volkanovski, this time by split decision. To this day many argue that the belt should still sit on Holloway’s waist and the road through Kattar will inevitably lead to another shot at UFC gold. If so it would be truly memorable with Volanovski vs. Holloway 3 becoming the first trilogy in UFC featherweight title fight history. Nonetheless, Max needs to return to his winning ways before we start booking him for another headliner versus the champion.

Holloway is an absolute storm of malice with a lightning overhand right and thunderous knees and kicks. The Hawaiian’s dirty boxing is magnificently highlighted by his trademark elbows on the inside mixed in with his assortment of body shots. His chin is made of granite and he has never been finished by TKO or KO. The two-fight losing streak is to the UFC 145lbs champion and before that “Blessed” hadn’t lost in 14 matches against top opposition in the featherweight division. The question to be answered in Abu Dhabi is: does the #1 ranked Max still have it in him? If so, its going to be a very long night at the office for Calvin Kattar who will likely be finished in the championship rounds. If Holloway doesn’t have it anymore then this battle also serves as the perfect gauge to measure Kattar’s progress on track to breaking into the Top 5, moving up from that #6 slot and eventually winning one more to be title fight ready.

However, before we start drawing the Bostonian into the title picture he must fight the perfect fight and outwork, out hustle, and out strike a guy who has otherworldly offense and is no slouch on the mat. If he gets it done it might be a split nod after a hectic 25 minutes and Fight of the Night bonus award.

The exposure that this ABC main card will receive is tremendous and currently in this division you’d be hard pressed to pair up better opponents to compliment one another’s style. They mesh so well: both like to fight tall dictating the pace with a crisp javelin of a jab behind a fun, come-forward approach and rarely take a step going backwards. I might be getting ahead of myself but this one looks like it will already nab peoples attention both on ESPN+ and ABC for a Fight of the Year candidate where there are no losers and we all go home happy.