Former UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway will be back in action in January. “Blessed” will be taking on featherweight contender Calvin Kattar in the main event of the January 16 card. The UFC announced the fight through their official twitter account on Tuesday.
The Blessed Express returns!
🚂 @BlessedMMA meets @CalvinKattar in the main event of Jan 16! pic.twitter.com/1x2aZaQLF1
— UFC (@ufc) November 17, 2020
Max Holloway to Fight Calvin Kattar in January
After claiming the UFC featherweight championship in the middle of a 12 fight win streak, Max Holloway has lost three of his past four fights. That’s not a knock on the former champion at all, though. Two of those losses have come to current featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski, the most recent of which was a close decision that many fans thought Holloway won. His other recent loss came to another absolutely elite fighter, when he lost to Dustin Poirier via decision for the interim UFC lightweight championship. As he looks to get back in the title picture, Holloway is still the number one ranked featherweight entering this fight.
Across from Holloway will be Calvin Kattar, arguably the best boxer in the entire UFC. Kattar is 4-1 in his last five fights with the only loss being a very close decision loss to Zabit Magomedsharipov on short notice. His most recent wins are a decision win over Dan Ige and a violent knockout of Jeremy Stephens. Kattar enters this fight as the number six featherweight and would definitely insert himself into the title picture with a win.
This fight is an interesting matchup. If it goes down as a boxing match, it would be a toss up, probably with a slight edge to Kattar. Holloway would be wise to mix in a heavy dosage of leg kicks. Though he has improved in that regard, Kattar still has problems defending leg kicks. Another important aspect to watch is the cardio battle. Holloway almost certainly has the edge in cardio, though Kattar showed in his fight with Ige that he is capable of winning over five rounds. Overall, this is an awesome fight and will lead to all kinds of fun striking exchanges.
