Former UFC featherweight champion, Max ‘Blessed’ Holloway is back in the winner’s enclosure — possibly eclipsing his incredible 2018 outing against Brian ‘T-City’ Ortega to boot, snapping a two-fight rise of the number-six ranked Calvin Kattar in a five-round battering.
Blasting out the gate early, Holloway looked incredibly sharp with his hands in the early exchanges of the opening round. Landing a couple of nasty calf kicks, Kattar stifled some of the Hawaiian’s early pressure, sticking well behind his jab as the latter pushing forward as his customary. Landing a couple of decent spinning back-kicks to the midsection before the first round buzzer, Holloway’s sheer activity won him the opening frame.
In an absolutely massive round for the former champion, Holloway split Kattar’s guard with a massive, slicing elbow on two separate occasions, drawing a sizeable cut on the forehead of the Matheun native. Almost scoring a similar buzzing beating high-kick knockdown, Holloway clipped Kattar behind the ear to close the second frame.
Having some better moments in the third round, Kattar landed well with that straight right on occasion, however, it was just more of the same from the onset from Holloway — scoring a series of lengthy combinations with aplomb with some of the best volume striking of his career.
In what’s sure to hold up as a Round of the Year contender, Holloway and Kattar bit down on their respective mouthpieces at the fence, swinging wild hooks and elbows for the majority of the fourth round. Holloway settled the pace in the first of two championship rounds towards the end, taking yet another frame in this one.
Taking the final round as well in one of the best displays in his carer, Holloway took home a unanimous decision win — even landing some incredible ‘no-look’ strikes on Kattar in the final minutes of the round. With Alexander Volkanovski vs. Brian Ortega slated for UFC 260 in late March — Holloway should most definitely face the victor.
Below, check out the highlights from Holloway’s blitzing of Kattar over five-rounds.
Holloway is absolutely pouring it on!!!
#UFCFightIsland7 pic.twitter.com/CLdXbTVL2f
— UFC (@ufc) January 16, 2021
— UFC (@ufc) January 16, 2021
"Start training on zoom!"
He's feeling himself
— UFC (@ufc) January 16, 2021
Fighting with something to prove!
Hats off to @BlessedMMA
— UFC (@ufc) January 16, 2021
Max Holloway is built different!
— UFC (@ufc) January 16, 2021
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LEECH LEECH LEECH!!! 
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LowKick MMA will be bringing you UFC Fight Island 7: Holloway vs. Kattar results throughout the night (Sat. 16th. January 2021) from the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, UAE. Opening up the UFC’s 2021 schedule, former undisputed featherweight titleholder, Max ‘Blessed’ Holloway makes his return to ‘Fight Island’ in his first non-title outing since 2016, as he draws […]