Calvin Kattar feels he has done more than enough to warrant a place as one of UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski’s next opponents.
Kattar made it four wins in his last five outings following an impressive performance in his five-round battle with Dan Ige in the UFC Fight Island 1 headliner last night.
“The Boston Finisher” usually does his talking in the Octagon and hopes Volkanovski sees that — especially as the champion has repeatedly spoken of cleaning out the featherweight division.
“I mean if I make my case, I don’t got to do it with my mouth,” Kattar said at the post-fight press conference (via MMA Fighting). “I do it in the cage. Like all these other guys, they all talk. Where I’m from, we don’t really talk about stuff too much. You go out and prove it. You earn it. In here, that’s not really the business model, so it’s a little bit of an adjustment for me. I go out, I fight, and I try to earn every opportunity in front of me.
“The champ should see that. He’s saying he wants contenders. You’re not going to find one more ready than myself.”
Kattar: They Can’t Deny Me If I Keep Winning
Volkanovski — coming off a split decision win over Max Holloway this past weekend — was certainly watching the fight and will have seen Kattar’s callout of him after the fight.
Although it is not a guarantee Kattar will get the next shot, he certainly believes he is now on the radar of many of the top featherweights.
“I know I’m on these guys’ radar,” Kattar said. “I’m a problem to deal with, and they’re all starting to realize they’re going to have to deal with me soon.
“I keep winning, they can’t deny me. That was my mindset getting into the UFC. I didn’t ask to get in the UFC. I just said if I keep winning, they won’t deny me. They can’t deny me. There’s nothing they can do if you keep winning. That’s what I’m doing right now. If they don’t want to give me a title shot now, go out, get another win. They can’t keep denying me forever. Hopefully top five after this fight and that’s a short list.”
At least when it comes to activity in 2020, nobody else in the top five other than Holloway comes close to Kattar who is now 2-0 for the year following his earlier win over Jeremy Stephens in May.
“Who’s my competition?” Kattar added. “No one’s been busy in 2020. I think I’m doing well for myself competing, earning opportunities and I can’t really say much for everybody else in the division.”
Do you think Kattar should get the next title shot? Or does he need at least one more win against a top-five opponent?