Calvin Kattar fought Dan Ige in the main event of UFC Abu Dhabi: Kattar vs Ige. This was a crucial fight for the division.
UFC featherweight is stacked with some brilliant talents, who are one or two fights away from a potential title shot. Zabit Magomedsharipov, The Korean Zombie, Yair Rodriguez, and Brian Ortega are the top contenders of the division. With all these big names around, Calvin Kattar has been flying under the radar for a meaningful time now.
However, after the win over Dan Ige, Calvin Kattar has some huge opportunities coming his way in the near future. He knocked out Jeremy Stephens in a brutal fashion. And within two months, he outclassed one of the toughest guys in the division, Dan Ige. What else Calvin Kattar will have to do to prove that he deserves a seat at the big boy’s table.
We already knew that Calvin Kattar was arguably the best boxer in the division. However, there were some questions surrounding Kattar that needed to be addressed before he takes on the top 5 featherweights. And Kattar just showed the world that he is good everywhere.
Calvin Kattar showcases phenomenal takedown defense
After watching the Dan Ige fight, we can conclude that no one in the featherweight division is going to outwrestle Calvin Kattar. Dan Ige had 7 takedown attempts in a 5 round fight and he could not secure one takedown against Kattar. It has to be considered that Ige is a threat on the ground. Besides that, Zabit Magomedsharipov did not have much success against Kattar when it comes to grappling.
The top contenders and even the champion of featherweight division are predominantly strikers, something Calvin Kattar is phenomenal at. And his performance against Zabit Magomedhsaripov is a key indicator of where does he stand when it comes skillsets among the top featherweights.
Zabit was in trouble in the third round against Calvin Kattar. At the end of the final round, Kattar hurt Zabit. However, Zabit had done enough in the early rounds to win the fight via decision. Kattar is often a slow starter and Zabit had a high volume in the first two rounds against Kattar. However, if it was a 5 round fight, Kattar would have likely won the final two rounds, if not finish Zabit Magomedsharipov. Calvin Kattar gets better and better as the round progresses.
Calvin Kattar has proved that he can go 5 rounds at a good pace. He is powerful when it comes it boxing and he has the knockout power to turn the lights off at any point in the fight. As far as the next opponent for Kattar is concerned, Max Holloway does seem a good matchup for him. But the winner of the Korean Zombie and Brian Ortega.
It might be too early to predict that Kattar will be the featherweight champion. He needs one more big win before he takes on the featherweight champion. However, he will be a tough matchup for anyone in the top 5 of the featherweight division.
Also Read I
“I Think Nate Diaz Will Fight Again” – Dana White Drops a Major Update