It’s not often someone loses back-to-back championship fights and still finds himself right in the middle of the title picture.
But Saturday, that very well could be the case for former featherweight champ Max Holloway (21-6 MMA, 17-6 UFC) in his UFC on ABC 1 main event against Calvin Kattar (22-4 MMA, 6-2 UFC) at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. The main card airs on ABC and ESPN+ following prelims on ESPN+.
Holloway and Kattar have the rare opportunity to make some television history when they headline the card, which will be the first live MMA broadcast on ABC, one of the big four national networks in the U.S. (ABC shares a parent company, Walt Disney Television, with UFC broadcast partner ESPN.)
But perhaps more important for Holloway is the chance to get back in the win column after consecutive losses to current featherweight champ Alexander Volkanovski. Volkanovski took a unanimous decision from Holloway at UFC 245 in December 2019 to win the belt. Their rematch this past July at UFC 251 was significantly closer, but Volkanovski eked out a split decision.
Holloway’s bone of contention is that most people think he won the rematch. And to that end, the media outlets tracked by MMADecisions.com have 18 nods for Holloway at 48-47 to only nine for Volkanovski at 48-47. So the ex-champ thinks a win over Kattar on Saturday ought to have him right back in that next-in-line spot.
Kattar, a +135 underdog at BetMGM.com, might have something to say about that, though. He has back-to-back wins and victories in four of his past five. He also will be in a main event for the third time in four fights and is part of one of hottest teams in MMA right now, the New England Cartel.
So ahead of Saturday’s crucial clash, the UFC has released a hype video to take you inside the two stars at the top of the bill. Check it out above. And don’t miss our photo galleries of Holloway and Kattar below, as well as other opportunities to dive inside the fight card.
‘Come Get It’: Max Holloway-Calvin Kattar hype video released ahead of UFC on ABC 1
