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After almost a month away, the UFC will be back in the saddle on January 16, 2021, with former UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway and the No. 6 ranked contender Calvin Kattar headlining the event.
UFC Fight Night: Holloway vs Kattar will be the promotion's first event of the year, which will also mark their return to the Fight Island. The last time UFC hosted an event on Fight Island was in October 2020 when Khabib Nurmagomedov successfully defended his belt against Justin Gaethje.
The last UFC event took place on December 19, 2020 at the UFC Apex Arena in Las Vegas, where Stephen Thompson defeated Geoff Neal in the main event.
Holloway vs. Kattar fight likey to decide the next UFC featherweight title contender
The main event clash between Max Holloway and Calvin Kattar will be essential to determine the next title contender in the UFC featherweight division.
Although it is not yet officially confirmed, reports suggest that the UFC is trying to pit Brian Ortega against Alexander Volkanovski in a title fight this year. However, if Holloway manages to get back into the win column, his much-talked-about trilogy fight with Volkanovski could come to fruition.
On the other hand, Kattar's stock would increase if he gets the better of Holloway, since the Hawaiian is ranked No. 1 in the UFC featherweight division. Kattar has been on an impressive run after suffering a loss at the hands of Zabit Magomedsharipov in November 2019.
Announced fights for UFC Fight Night: Holloway vs. Kattar
The No.13 ranked middleweight, Omari Akhmedov, is slated to fight Tom Breese in the co-main event. Along with that, a welterweight bout between David Zawada and Ramazan Emeev is also set to go down.
Knockout star Joaquin Buckley will be returning to the octagon against Alessio Di Chirico. Buckley is coming off a knockout win over Jordan Wright at UFC 255.
Former Olympian Mike Grundy's third fight in the UFC will see him locking horns with 36-year-old veteran Nik Lentz, who has been in the promotion for over a decade.
Here is the list of other fights expected to take place on the January 16 card:
Heavyweight bout: Justin Tafa vs. Carlos Felipe
Featherweight bout: Austin Lingo vs. Jacob Kilburn
Middleweight bout: Punahele Soriano vs. Duško Todorović
Women's Bantamweight bout: Bethe Correia vs. Wu Yanan
Welterweight bout: Santiago Ponzinibbio vs. Li Jingliang
Middleweight bout: Nassourdine Imavov vs. Phil Hawes
