Calvin Kattar has warned that Max Holloway should not take him lightly in their main event clash at UFC Fight Island 7.
Holloway and Kattar will meet in the headlining act of the UFC’s first 2021 event. The promotion will hold three events in one week, with the first taking place on Jan. 16th, the second on Jan. 20th, and last on Jan. 23rd in UFC 257.
Kattar (22-4) is currently on a two-fight winning streak at 145-pounds, winning a decision against Dan Ige and finishing Jeremy Stephens in 2020. “The Boston Finisher” spoke to MMA Fighting about his fight with Holloway.
“It’s a good opportunity to show that I’m that guy,” Kattar said. “There’s these guys out there touting Max like he’s still the champ, and I think he may even be still focused on the champ. But to overlook me would be a mistake.
“Any time you fight a guy like Max Holloway with the accolades he has, it is a championship-caliber fight,” he explained. “He might not have the belt right now, but it’s that type of fight, 100 percent. It’s a five-round main event fight and the only thing missing is the belt.”
The former featherweight champion Holloway (21-4) defended his title three times before losing it to Alex Volkanovski in Dec. 2019. “Blessed” would get another shot at Volkanovski back in July, but he would fall short by way of a controversial split decision loss.
“I think anybody that wants to fight for the belt should have to go through Max,” Kattar stated. “To bypass Max on the way to the belt doesn’t make sense to me. If you want to be the champion, you have to take out Max Holloway on the way and I’ve got the opportunity in front of me. After Max, [the belt] would be the goal.”
