Strap yourselves in for this one! A mouthwatering featherweight clash between former champion, Max ‘Blessed’ Holloway, and division climber, Calvin Kattar will take headlining honours at a UFC Fight Night event on January 16th. – with a location or venue for the card yet to be determined by the promotion.
Hoping to snap a two-fight championship slide, former featherweight kingpin, Holloway dropped a recent title challenge rematch to current hold holder, Alexander ‘The Great’ Volkanovski at UFC 251 on ‘Fight Island’ in July, in a close split decision defeat.
Winning his last two on the trot, New England Cartel standout, Kattar headlined his second event under the UFC’s banner also on ‘Fight Island’ in July, taking a unanimous decision over Holloway’s Hawaiian countryman, ‘Dynamite’ Dan Ige over five-rounds. at UFC Fight Island 1.
Honolulu fan-favourite, Holloway had dropped his featherweight crown to Australian powerhouse, Volkanovski at UFC 245 in December, in another decision defeat, that time a clearer unanimous judging. The defeat snapped Holloway’s staggering fourteen-fight winning run at 145-pounds.
A dominant former champion, the 28-year-old assumed the titleholder rank with a third-round knockout win over José Aldo to unify the crowns, before besting the Brazilian once again in an immediate rematch. In a career standout performance, Holloway stopped the then-undefeated, Brian ‘T-City’ Ortega in a fifth-round doctor’s stoppage win at UFC 231 in December of 2018.
After dropping an interim lightweight title opportunity against two-time foe, Dustin ‘The Diamond’ Poirier, Holloway took home a unanimous decision victory over Frankie ‘The Answer’ Edgar at UFC 240 in July of last year, his third and final successful featherweight title defence.
Massachusetts striking ace, Kattar earned the #6 rank with his victory over Ige – inserting him into this possible title-eliminator with Holloway in January.
Before the judging triumph, the 32-year-old scored a highlight-reel step-in elbow knockout of the veteran knockout artist, Jeremy ‘Lil’ Heathen’ Stephens at UFC 249 in May.
Dropping two promotional defeats against both Zabit Magomedsharipov and Renato Moicano, Kattar has dispatched the likes of Andre Fili, Chris Fishgold, Makwan Amirkhani, Ricardo Lamas, and fellow contender, Shane Burgos.
