UFC on ESPN 13 results: Calvin Kattar outboxes Dan Ige in back and forth war

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Calvin Kattar just took a unanimous decision over Dan Ige in the UFC Fight Island 1 Fight Night: Kattar vs. Ige main event.

UFC Fight Island 1 Fight Night: Kattar vs. Ige is officially in the books and was capped off with a standup showdown between top-10 bantamweights (#6) Calvin Kattar and (#10) Dan Ige. This was a hard-fought war on both sides, with each man dishing put damage as well as taking it in. It was Kattar though who landed quality boxing combos and stuffed all takedowns to secure the unanimous decision. The Massachusetts native has now won four of his last five, and called for a title shot against Alexander Volkanovski in his post-fight interview.

Kattar took the center of the Octagon nd slowly pressured forward. He was looking to draw out responses from Ige, who was on the outside throwing but not really connecting with punches. Then, Kattar started to let his hands go, and when he did, he landed with substantially more power than his opposition. Kattar was punching to the body and the head in the same in the same combo, and ripped off a mean flurry at the end of the round.

Ige pumped his jab a lot more in the second round, and caught Kattar with a clean hook to the nose. Blood quickly followed on what appeared to be a re-aggravated injury from his fight with Jeremy Stephens. The confidence of Ige began to grow and he started to throw more volume. Kattar managed the nose situation and responded with some hard combos at towards the end of the frame.

Ige worked his stick and move striking early in the third act. He was attacking the leg as well as letting his punches go. Kattar wasn’t firing or landing a great deal, but when he did it was visibly moving Ige. The power discrepancy is so hard to ignore. He did up his output in the final minute of pretty close round.

Ige shot in for a takedown to kick off the championship rounds, but Kattar showed off some excellent hips to avoid it. The boxing of Kattar continued to be his bread and butter. His combos were still crisp and still seemed to have quite a bit of heat on them. Just when it seemed to be Kattar’s round, Ige started to get it going with his strikes again. He fought his way back into the round to make it another close one.

Kattar got off to a strong start in the final round and looked rather fresh. He worked behind his jab and stayed busy as Ige was pushed to the outside. Ige began to push back as he did all fight, but just couldn’t find a way to back off Kattar. He tried to get the fight to the floor but failed again in that department. Kattar went nuts in the final moments of the fight, and found himself found and pounding Ige until the final bell.

Calvin Kattar def. Dan Ige by unanimous decision (49-46 x2, 48-47): Featherweight