Live, blow-by-blow updates for today’s UFC Fight Island 7 card, which features a featherweight top contender fight on top.
Join us today on Bloody Elbow for live results, discussion, round scoring, and full play-by-play (main and co-main) as UFC Fight Island 7: Holloway vs. Kattar goes down on Fight Island in Abu Dhabi.
The headliner comes in the featherweight division, with former divisional kingpin Max Holloway looking to rebound when he meets the rising Calvin Kattar. The co-main will see some old school savages facing off, when former interim champ Carlos Condit takes on Matt Brown
This is the first ABC show and is kicking off way earlier than usual due to time zones. The six-fight preliminary card is scheduled to start a Noon ET/9am PT and will air on ESPN+ only. The five-fight main card will kick off at 3pm ET/Noon PT on ESPN+ and ABC.
Max Holloway vs. Calvin Kattar
Round 1 – Low kick from Kattar. Holloway wades in with a left hook. Jab from Kattar, and a low kick. Nice combo from Holloway. Low leg kick from Holloway. Holloway with rights to the head and body. Another beautiful combo from Holloway. He looks excellent. Leg kick and a jab from Kattar. Another low kick. Holloway returns it. Three-punch combo from Holloway. Counter right and sick body work from Holloway. They trade hard jabs. Oblique kick from Holloway. Nice lead right from Kattar. Holloway flurries with a combo. Low kick. Kattar with a left. Holloway with his own. Jabs from both men. Calf kick from Kattar. Holloway flurries again, after Kattar tagged him. BEAUTIFUL spinning back kick to the body from Holloway. He lands a huge right! Body work. Another spinning kick glances but lands. 10-9 Holloway.
Round 2 – Holloway with a combo that ends with a straight right Anther three-punch combo that all land. Body shot. Jab to the body from Kattar. Holloway ducks a shot and lands, but Kattar counters the counter. Body jab and a right from Holloway. They stuff rights in each other’s faces. Low kick from Kattar. Holloway lands a shot and Kattar goes down but it was a slip. Holloway with a short combo. Kattar with a nice right hook. Jab from Holloway. Holloway spins. Two-punch combo and high kick from Holloway. Lead right hook from Kattar. Again. Low kick from Kattar but Holloway flurries. So much going on. Jab from Kattar. Holloway catches a kick and staggers Kattar, and lands a knee to the body. He rips the right to the body. Hard elbow over the top and Kattar is hurt! One minute to go! Tons of elbows! Kattar is bleeding! ANOTHER HUGE ELBOW! Kattar is covered in blood but he’s still on his feet. Kattar pins Holloway on the fence but can’t get a takedown. Another elbow! Savge right hook! How is Kattar standing?? He lands another huge shot at the horn that staggers Kattar! WOW! 10-8 Holloway.
Round 3 – Oblique kick from Holloway. Holloway spins and misses. Jab from Kattar. Right hook from Holloway. Another. Elbows again. Kattar ties him up. Jab from Kattar. Hard uppercut from Kattar, and a right! Holloway responds with a savage uppercut and a right! Holy hell! Three-punch combo from Holloway. Max goes back to the body with a body jab, hard leg kick, and a massive uppercut. Now a knee. Kattar is bleeding again. Huge right hook from Kattar! Holloway with a straight right and he stuffs a takedown. Holloway with low kicks. Holloway rips the body. Kattar with a stiff left. Holloway jumps in video game style. Front kick from Kattar. Hard jab from Holloway. Holloway lands a few times. Kattar just misses with an elbow. Left hook from Holloway and he rips the body. Head/body again. Big right hook. Kattar clips Max with a right. He dances, and fires back! This is fun as hell! 10-9 Holloway.
Round 4 – Holloway clubs the body and scores with the right hook. More body work. Three lefts in a row from Holloway. Big right over the top. Back to the body. Kattar is throwing one shot at a time. He lands a left hook though. Holloway lights up the body. Holloway lands a big shot and he’s got Kattar against the fence, just lighting him up! Kattar is firing back but he’s barely on his feet. Holloway is all over him! Big elbow from Kattar but Holloway just walks right through it! WOW! Holloway steps back and lands a huge right hook! Knee! Two savage body shots. Two more right hooks. Holloway looks for a takedown but can’t get it. How is Kattar still here?!? Right hook from Kattar! And a jab. Oblique kick from Holloway. Kattar with a right hook. Spinning elbow from Kattar is blocked. Spinning back kick from Holloway. Jabs. Holloway with a counter head kick! Spinning back kick again. Whew! 10-8 Holloway.
Round 5 – Holloway works the body right away. Left hook from Holloway. Body shot from Max. Jab. Holloway batters Kattar backwards. Right hook and Kattar is stunned again. This might get stopped before the final horn. Another right hook from Holloway. Kattar with a combo though. Holloway just waves a finger at him. Spinning back kick from the former champ. Jab from Holloway. Kattar with a big shot! Another shot. Holloway just told the commentary team he’s the best boxer in the UFC. During the fight. Lol. Beautiful straight left from Holloway and he’s stylin now. Kattar still throwing. Holloway with some kicks. Shutout. 10-9 and 50-43 Holloway.
Max Holloway defeated Calvin Kattar via unanimous decision (50-43, 50-43, 50-42)
Santiago Ponzinibbio vs. Li Jingliang
Round 1 – Ponzinibbio misses with a leg kick. Slow start overall. Lots of feinting. Slap kick from Jingliang. Counter left from Jingliang. Two inside leg kicks from The Leech. Jingliang with a two-punch combo. Two more inside leg kicks. A third. Ponzinibbio finally throws a big outside leg kick. Another hard low kick. Nice jab over the top from Ponzinibbio. Ponz with another jab. Li is active but a little out of range. Hard outside leg kick from Jingliang. Ponz jab. Ponz throws another shot and the counter ;eft from Jingliang drops Ponz! He’s out! Li jumps on him but it’s already over! That was amazing!
Carlos Condit vs. Matt Brown
Round 1 – Brown with a body kick. Condit active right away. Outside leg kick from Condit. Condit checks a low kick. Low kick from Condit. Again. They clinch and Brown gets a bodylock takedown. He’s working in half with Condit’s head against the fence. Brown is bleeding. Back to full guard. Brown apparently scraped his head against the cage wall on the takedown and that’s what caused the cut. Yikes. Brown postures up with some punches. Condit looks for an armbar. Elbow from Brown. Condit stacks up looking for a sub, but Brown defends. Condit looks for a kimura but gets clubbed. Condit hits a switch! Brown on a leg lock. Crazy. 10-9 Brown.
Round 2 – They miss with some early shots. Brown with a hard elbow that stuns Condit. Low kick from Condit. Brown with a left hook. Condit slips on a kick but pops back up. Inside leg kick from Brown. Combo from Condit, and he stuffs a takedown. Another combo. Brown ties him up against the fence. Condit with yet another combo. Condit with a sick trip takedown! Brown battles up but Condit drags him back down. Brown trying to lock him down. Condit landing some methodical ground and pound. 10-9 Condit.
Round 3 – Condit leads with…a kick in the nuts. Condit with a double jab and a low kick. Uppercut and high kick from Condit. Brown looks for a takedown but gets stuffed. Condit jumps into the clinch and eats a couple of knees. Brown with a footsweep and aright. Browns in on a single but Condit spins to his back! He jumps for the choke but he’s backpacking up high! Brown can’t shake him off because Condit collapsed his leg. That was brilliant. I love this fight, and not because Condit is my favorite fighter. Brown’s turtling, so Condit opens up with a few punches. Condit settles into side control against the cage. Big punches. Almost mount, but Condit ends up on his back again. He’s looking for a choke but Brown rolls into him and they’re up with two minutes to go. Elbows from Condit as Brown looks for a takedown. Condit uses a kimura defense but Brown throws him to the floor and jumps on him. Condit with a rubber guard. Brown looks tire. Condit scoots to his feet. 45 seconds to go. Condit with an elbow and a takedown but Brown reverses immediately! Wow! Condit with side elbows o the had. Big elbow from Brown. That was awesome! 10-9 and 29-28 Condit.
Carlos Condit defeated Matt Brown via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Li Jingliang defeated Santiago Ponzinibbio via KO (punch), 4:25 of round 1
Joaquin Buckley vs. Alessio Di Chirico
Round 1 – Body kick from Di Chirico. Front kick. Buckley throws. Low kick from Di Chirico. Straight right from Buckley. The next right scores. High kick from Di Chirico. Di Chirico with a counter to a Buckley right. Side kick from Di Chirico. Body punch from Buckley. Jump knee from Di Chirico. Head kick from Di Chirico catches Buckley leaning and HE’S DOWN AND OUT! Di Chirico jumps him with GnP but he was out as soon as the kick landed. WOW!
Alessio Di Chirico defeated Joaquin Buckley via KO (head kick), 2:12 of round 1
Dusko Todorovic vs. Punahele Soriano
Round 1 –
Front kick from Todorovic. He makes Soriano miss. Head kick from Soriano misses. Body kick lands for Todorovic, and a knee. Nice left sneaks through for Todorovic and he gets out of range of the counter. Soriano catches a body kick but can’t do anything with it. Soriano with a big right hook that stuns Todorovic! It almost knocked his mouthpiece out, but he popped it back in and reset. Todorovic tries to clinch but Soriano pushes him away. They trade rights. Knee to the body from Todorovic. Soriano with a partial land on a right. Right hook from both men. Huge right drops Todorovic! He manages to survive and gets up! SORIANO DROPS HIM AGAIN! Soriano jumps into his guard but that’s dangerous so he backs out. Todorovix is trying to clear the cobwebs, but ANOTHER RIGHT DROPS HIM AGAIN! His mouthpiece is out, and he’s getting some recovery time. It’s stuck in the cage! Weird. They finally reset with 30 seconds to go. My god, another right drops Tusko yet again! Finally Herb Dean has seen enough, and it’s over. WOW what a performance on the first UFC fight on ABC ever.
Puna Soriano defeated Dusko Todorovic via TKO (punches), 4:48 of round 1
Preliminary Card
Jocelyne Edwards defeated Wu Yanan via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
Carlos Felipe defeated Justin Tafa via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Ramazan Emeev defeated David Zawada via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Vanessa Melo defeated Sarah Moras via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
Austin Lingo defeated Jacob Kilburn via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-27)