It is not always that someone loses consecutive fights for the championship and still finds himself right in the middle of the title photo.
But on Saturday, this could very well be the case of former featherweight champion Max Holloway (21-6 MMA, 17-6 UFC) in his UFC at the ABC 1 main event against Calvin Kattar (22-4 MMA, 6-2 UFC ) at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. The main card will air on ABC and ESPN + after the preliminaries on ESPN +.
Holloway and Kattar have the rare opportunity to make television history by making headlines on the card, which will be the first live MMA broadcast on ABC, one of the four major national networks in the United States (ABC shares a parent company, Walt Disney Television , with ESPN, UFC broadcast partner.)
But perhaps more important for Holloway is the chance to return to the winning streak after consecutive defeats to defending champion Alexander Volkanovski. Volkanovski took a unanimous decision from Holloway at UFC 245 in December 2019 to win the belt. His rematch last July at UFC 251 was significantly closer, but Volkanovski had a split decision.
Holloway’s bone of contention is that most people think he won the rematch. And to that end, the media tracked by MMADecisions.com has 18 nods to Holloway at 48-47 versus just nine to Volkanovski at 48-47. Therefore, the former champion thinks that a victory over Kattar on Saturday should take him back to the next place in the queue.
Kattar, +135 dark horse in BetMGM.com, you may have something to say about it, however. He has consecutive wins and wins in four of the last five. He will also be in a main event for the third time in four fights and is part of one of the hottest MMA teams today, the New England Cartel.
So, before Saturday’s crucial showdown, the UFC released a campaign video to get you inside the top two stars on the list. Check above. And don’t miss our photo galleries of Holloway and Kattar below, as well as other opportunities to immerse yourself in the fight card.