UFC is kicking off 2021 with a month of exciting fights! Max “Blessed” Holloway and Calvin “The Boston Finisher” Kattar will indeed set the bar for a new year of fights. This featherweight bout is set to headline UFC Fight Night on ABC and I have no doubt this fight will be a good one.
At 26-6 Max Holloway is coming off two straight losses from the current featherweight champ Alexander Volkanovski, in an attempt to get the featherweight belt back. Prior to these 2 losses, Holloway dominated this division with 13 straight wins before losing in an attempt to become a two division champ. There was a bit of controversy about Holloways split decision loss against Volkanovski. I did watch it live, and then watched it again to see if maybe I had missed something. There was no question about the first fight, Volkanovski came to fight that night. But I will say I do think Holloway won the rematch.
At 22-4 Calvin Kattar is going up against his biggest test so far in his UFC career against the former champ Max Holloway. 6 months ago on Fight Island Kattar went 5 rounds putting an end to Dan Ige’s 6 fight win streak. He showed excellent striking and the dog in him! In the fight before that against Jeremy Stephens, Kattar took the TKO victory in the second round. I just want to say, if you look up Jeremy Stephens…the man has 56 fights total with 28 wins and 18 losses. Don’t let that fool you, Stephens Is a tough fighter and this was no easy victory. It took a couple minutes into the first round for Kattar to find his stride but when he did Stephens was no match. Kattar’s boxing is ELITE and they don’t call him the “The Boston Finisher” for nothing!
I’m excited for this matchup. These fighters are similar in their records, Kattar has 11 TKO’s, while Holloway has 10, both have 2 submission victories and 1 submission loss. And as I go through their stats one thing after another lets me know this is going to be a good fight. They are both in the top ten in the race for gold. This fight is necessary for Holloway. A loss will of course drop him in the rankings, taking him further away from winning the belt back, and it would be his third straight loss. And who knows what a losing streak does to the mental of a fighter. For Kattar, this win will undoubtedly propel him upward in the rankings, putting his name in the conversation for title contention.
Hammer: Max Holloway
Nail: Calvin Kattar
Prediction: This is tough for me! Both of these fighters can bang and brawl and I think that’s what it will come to. Deep down inside I am rooting for Holloway because I feel like he should be the champ right now. Kattar will indeed test Holloway’s championship toughness. This will not be an easy fight for either fighter. But I am going to say that this fight goes the full five rounds and ends in an all-out brawl. Holloway will walk away with the W.
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