The former featherweight king is looking for a path to the crown. Max Holloway will face Calvin Kattar in a decisive featherweight fight at the UFC Fight Night main event on Saturday in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. This is the first UFC show of the year, and the main card will air on ABC, the home of boxing for several decades.
The winner of this fight could be next in line for a title opportunity. ESPN has Holloway ranked No. 2 and Kattar No. 6 in the featherweight division.
Holloway (21-6) lost two in a row to current champion Alexander Volkanovski. The two fights were very close and many believed Holloway won the second at UFC 251 in July. Holloway, 29, is the most decorated featherweight in UFC history. He held a 145-pound UFC title from 2016 to 2019. The Hawaiian native has the most wins (16), most KO / TKO wins (8) and most stoppage wins ( 10) in UFC featherweight history.
Kattar (22-4) has won two in a row and four of his last five games. The Massachusetts native has four finishes in six UFC wins. Kattar, 32, comes off a unanimous decision victory over Dan Ige last July.
In the co-main event, two of the most exciting fighters in UFC welterweight history – Carlos Condit and Matt Brown – go head to head. Condit (31-13), a former interim UFC welterweight champion, broke a five-game losing streak in his last fight, a victory over Court McGee. Brown (22-17) had a two-game winning streak in his last fight against Miguel Baeza.
Also on the card, welterweight contender Santiago Ponzinibbio returns after more than two years of absence due to illness to face Li Jingliang, and knockout artist Joaquin Buckley meets Alessio Di Chirico in a welterweight bout.
A strong card will have an additional adrenaline rush as fans will be allowed into Etihad Arena. The building can accommodate 18,000 seats, but only 2,000 fans will be allowed.
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– UFC (@ufc) January 16, 2021
Current fight:
Female bantamweight: Wu Yanan (11-3, 1-2 UFC, -115) vs Joselyne Edwards (9-2, 0-0 UFC, -105)
Results:
Heavyweight: Carlos Felipe (10-1, 2-1 UFC) vs. Justin Tafa (4-2, 1-2 UFC) by split decision
With 20 seconds remaining, Felipe and Tafa were standing in the middle of the Octagon, throwing hard combinations at each other. The 2,000 paid fans in attendance – the first to attend a UFC event since last March – cheered loudly.
Felipe ended up winning a split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28) over Tafa in a very close fight. But what people will remember from this big heavyweight battle won’t be who won and who lost. This will be how they brought the first UFC crowd in 10 months to their feet with an incredibly entertaining brawl.
This ending was WILD 🤯 # UFCFightIsland7 pic.twitter.com/kOU4SKLrz5
– UFC (@ufc) January 16, 2021
Tafa controlled the first lap. He landed heavy blows on Felipe’s body and legs. At one point, he almost knocked Felipe off his feet with a right leg kick. You could see red toe marks on Felipe’s thigh from Tafa’s brutal kicks. In the second, however, Felipe gained momentum. He rocked Tafa with a great combination culminating with a big right hand. Tafa pulled back against the cage and Felipe injured him again with hooks to the body as Tafa winced. The two finished the round with a big rally in the middle as the crowd cheered.
In the third, the two men had their moments. Tafa landed a few hard body shots up close. It was as if the two giant men were fighting in a telephone booth. Felipe later landed a big elbow that momentarily knocked Tafa out. The fight ended with the two clashing, risking fainting to ignite the crowd.
Felipe, 26, has now won back-to-back wins after losing on his UFC debut. The Brazilian native also has professional boxing experience. Tafa, from Australia, 27, has now lost two of three in the UFC.
– Raimondi
Watch this fight on ESPN +.
Welterweight: Ramazan Emeev (20-4, 5-1 UFC) defeats David Zawada (17-6, 1-3 UFC) by split decision
Emeev had to dig deep in Round 3. In fact, both men did.
After being shot and ending up in the full mounting position, Emeev managed to escape danger, reversing the position to climb to the top. And even after losing that position, the 33-year-old Russian returned to work with aggression and pressure, winning the decision on the scorecards of two of the three judges for his ninth victory in his last 10 fights.
The three scorers at Cageside had the bout 29-28.
Zawada also had something to overcome in the third round, and he almost did. He had been shot several times in the first two rounds, and Emeev’s right hand just to the horn ending the second round – or a fraction of a second after the horn – opened a cut next to the left eye of the 30- German one year. He fought most of Round 3 with blood streaming in his eyes, but he almost did the job of gaining dominance.
Instead, it was the third loss in his last four fights for Zawada, who hadn’t competed since 2019.
– Wagenheim
Watch this fight on ESPN +.
Women’s bantamweight: Vanessa Melo (11-8, 1-3 UFC) defeats Sarah Moras (6-8, 3-6 UFC) via unanimous decision
For three rounds, Melo went forward, throwing powerful punches. She ate a few hits in the process, and all the big hooks didn’t land, but enough for her to take the win.
Melo defeated Moras by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28) in a women’s bantamweight bout, the UFC’s first women’s fight in 2021.
The biggest strike came in the second round. Melo whipped up a combination that resulted in a spade left hook, cracking Moras in the nose. Moras’ mouthpiece fell off after the punch and his nose became bloody. Moras has had success with his jab and kicks. But there was no doubt that Melo was delivering the hardest hits throughout the fight.
Melo, 32, had a three-game losing streak. The Brazilian won her first UFC victory. Moras, a 32-year-old native of Canada, has now lost two in a row and five of her last six years.
“I feel really happy and honored to get my first UFC victory,” Melo said. “I can’t even explain how happy I am. I just want to keep evolving, train harder and keep growing.
“I’m honored to be here, it was an honor to be on the first Fight Island, an honor to be here with the fans for the first time – it’s not a lot of fans, but it’s well, that’s a fresh start for the UFC and everyone. “
– Raimondi
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Men’s featherweight: Austin Lingo (8-1, 1-1 UFC) defeats Jacob Kilburn (8-4, 0-2 UFC) via unanimous decision
Lingo hadn’t fought since his first loss last February. But it wasn’t long before he got back on track, dropping Kilburn within the first 30 seconds. But his work was not yet finished.
After Kilburn got back to his feet, Lingo began to pepper him with sharp jabs, left hooks and other right hands in his way to get the nod on all three scorecards.
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Two judges scored the bout 30-26 and the other 30-27.
Kilburn, in his first fight since 2019, didn’t make it easy, despite the lopsided scorecards. The 25-year-old from Clarksville, Tennessee attempted a takedown after a takedown, and as the fight progressed he appeared to be the freshest contender. But he couldn’t escape Lingo’s punches and suffered his second straight loss.
Lingo, 26 and fighter in Dallas, had not competed since last February’s unanimous decision loss to Youssef Zalal.
– Wagenheim
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Still to come:
Men’s Featherweight: Max Holloway (21-6, 17-6 UFC, -160) vs Calvin Kattar (22-4, 6-2 UFC, +135)
Welterweight: Carlos Condit (31-13, 8-9 UFC, -170) vs. Matt Brown (24-17, 15-11 UFC, +145)
Welterweight: Santiago Ponzinibbio (28-3, 9-2 UFC, -310) vs. Li Jingliang (17-6, 9-4 UFC, +250)
Middleweight: Joaquin Buckley (12-3, 2-1 UFC, -300) vs. Alessio Di Chirico (12-5, 3-5 UFC, +240)
Middleweight: Punahele Soriano (7-0, 1-0 UFC, +135) vs. Dusko Todorovic (10-0, 1-0 UFC, -160)
