UFC featherweight contender Calvin Kattar thinks he deserved to win on the judges’ scorecards against Josh Emmett at UFC Austin.
Kattar and Emmett were both coming off of impressive wins heading into their UFC Austin headliner. In what was expected to be a back-and-forth war, the two featherweight contenders lived up to expectations as they brawled for 25 minutes on the feet.
It was a very close fight from the opening minutes as both Kattar and Emmett dealt their fair share of damage in the Octagon. In the end, Emmett would walk away with the split decision win to earn his fifth-straight victory.
During the UFC Austin ESPN+ post-fight show, Kattar gave his initial reaction to his five-round battle with Emmett.
“I just thought I was going to get my hand raised at the end of it,” Kattar said. “I didn’t care, we give a sh*t if it’s unanimous or a split. I thought I did enough to win the fight. Josh is a class act, a tough kid. Congrats to him and his team.
“… There was never a point I thought I could sit back, but I thought I was edging him out, especially the longer the fight went. The fifth round, I thought I took it. I know he wanted to stand in the center and bang but I mean, that’d be cool I guess if I wasn’t up in the fight, maybe. I thought I was landing the better shots, but I’m not a judge. It went the way it did, but I thought I did enough to win the fight.” (h/t MMA Junkie)
UFC fans were divided on how they scored Kattar vs. Emmett, and the same can be said for the judges. Two judges gave Emmett a 48-47 victory, with one judge giving Kattar the win by the same score.
A few of the rounds in the fight were difficult for most to definitively score, as both Kattar and Emmett had their fair share of moments throughout the battle. Kattar seemed to hold the advantage from a volume standpoint, while Emmett arguably landed the more damaging blows.
Kattar surged back into the featherweight title conversation following a win over Giga Chikadze back in January. Following his latest defeat, he’ll look to pick up the pieces and come out victorious in his expected return later this year.
How did you score Calvin Kattar vs. Josh Emmett?
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