Calvin Kattar wasn’t going to let anyone stop him from continuing to fight Max Holloway.
Kattar (22-5 MMA, 6-3 UFC) dropped a lopsided unanimous decision to former featherweight champion Holloway this past January at UFC on ABC 1, where he was battered over the course of five rounds. A bloodied-up Kattar never stopped pressing forward, but many questioned why his corner didn’t throw in the towel. The way the fight unfolded even had UFC president Dana White fearing for Kattar’s life.
Since the loss to Holloway (22-6 MMA, 18-6 UFC), New England Cartel coach Tyson Chartier has kept Kattar away from sparring, allowing his fighter to get the necessary rest and recovery after such a tough fight.
But Kattar explains that while Chartier may have gotten plenty of slack for not waiving the fight off, he likely would’ve faced harsher consequences for ending the contest himself.
“It’s tough to dial back,” Kattar told MMA Junkie Radio. “It’s one of the hardest things to do. It’s not so much hard to rev it up, but it’s tough to dial back. But you’ve got to listen to your body, and I’ve been long overdue to try and get some kind of rebound, but credit to the team. It’s a family, and I think our biggest attribute is that we care. So we’re putting in the work, and Tyson got a lot of slack for that last one, honestly. It is what it is. Sometimes you’re the hammer, sometimes the nail, and it happens when you’re fighting the best guys in the world. But for him, he takes it a little harder.
“People were questioning him for not throwing in the towel, but if he threw that in, maybe he would have had more problems with me, so who knows how that works? But I’m just happy to be back. I’m in a good groove now. I feel healthy. I feel strong, except when I go with Rob (Font) because he’s on another level right now, but I’m just excited. Full steam ahead, May 22, main event, long overdue, Rob Font is No. 3 in the world. I’m No. 6 right now. It’s a great time for both of us and for just staying the course, trusting the process, keeping our head down, putting the work in, and now we have these big opportunities in front of us.”
Despite the one-sided loss to Holloway, Kattar remains undeterred. He hopes to one day run things back with Holloway and thinks they’ll likely cross paths again down the line.
“If I don’t get what I’m after the first time, I have the type of mindset, a personality where I get more motivated the second time,” Kattar said. “I get more motivated when I get set back. Either way, it’s forward. I always fall forward, and I look forward to a Round 6 with Max. He did what he had to do in the first five – hell of a fight, credit to him, and I can’t wait for another opportunity to get a crack at that one.”
Kattar said he is targeting a return in the fall. He doesn’t have a specific name in mind but hopes he can continue climbing the ladder at 145 pounds by facing a higher-ranked opponent.
“Ideally, if we could fight up, that would be great,” Kattar said. “If not, I don’t care. I’ll probably be in that Max situation, where he’s coming off two losses, I’m coming off one, but I feel like I’ll be fighting an up-and-comer, a tough prospect. Who really knows how it shakes out? This sport is crazy like that, right?
“I’d like to fight a guy off a win, maybe up if I could, but we’ll see. I know I just dropped that last one, so I’m just ready to go in and earn me another ‘W’ and show why I belong in that upper echelon of those guys you just mentioned.”
To see the full interview with Kattar, check out the video below.
Calvin Kattar working back slowly, looks forward ‘to a Round 6’ with Max Holloway eventually
