This Saturday Night at Fight Island in Abu Dhabi comes UFC on ABC 1. The UFC will debut on national television for a momentous occasion that pits two 145-lb fighters against each other. The main event features Max “Blessed” Holloway (21-6 MMA, 16-6 UFC) facing off against Calvin Kattar (22-4 MMA, 6-2 UFC) in featherweight division competition. Holloway is coming off two straight losses to current UFC Featherweight Champion Alexander Volkanovski. Their UFC 245 bout had Holloway coming in as the incumbent champion before losing the title by unanimous decision back in December of 2019. The UFC 251 rematch had Volkanovski win by split decision last summer in July of 2020.
🚨on @ABCNetwork and @espn+🚨
BACK TO FIGHT ISLAND!
NEXT WEEKEND!UFC Fight Night
01.16.21: Yas Island, Abu Dhabi
Main: 3pm ET / 12pm PT / 10am HT#DaddestManOnThePlanet
🤙🏻 pic.twitter.com/ejDioU1MP3— Max Holloway (@BlessedMMA) January 4, 2021
Holloway’s last victory came against Frankie Edgar at UFC 240 back in July of 2019 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada via unanimous decision. It was the second of three consecutive unanimous decisions prior to his second straight loss to Volkanovski. It turned out to become a successful title defense. He looks to return to the win column going up against a man who is coming off of two wins in a row.
Kattar defeated Jeremy Stephens via knockout in a catchweight bout at UFC 249 back in May of last year. He followed up with another win over Dan Ige at UFC Fight Night in Abu Dhabi. Nicknamed “The Boston Finisher”, he looks to add to his win streak by knocking off the Hawaiian sensation. Holloway has superior boxing abilities, knocking out ten, and holds a purple belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under Rylan Lizares and Pedro Sauer. Kattar has boxing ability as well with half his wins coming by knockout with eleven. Holding a blue belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, this is more likely to be more of a slugfest than a well-rounded bout using ground control with the addition of striking.
UFC on ABC 1 begins at 12 pm EST on Saturday, January 16th.
