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The UFC, via its official Twitter account, has confirmed Max Holloway will face Calvin Kattar in the main event of the Fight Night card that’s scheduled to take place on January 16th, 2021.
The aforementioned fight against Kattar would be former UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway’s first fight since his controversial split decision loss to Alexander Volkanovski earlier this year.
Max Holloway vs. Calvin Kattar will have title implications in the UFC featherweight division
Max Holloway put his UFC featherweight title on the line against Alexander Volkanovski last December. The Hawaiian MMA stalwart competed in a closely contested bout against Volkanovski that went the five-round distance.
The judges scored the fight as a unanimous decision victory in favor of Alexander Volkanovski. Holloway resultantly lost his belt and Volkanovski was crowned as the new UFC featherweight champion.
Max Holloway received an immediate rematch against Alexander Volkanovski, with the rematch transpiring in July. The rematch, akin to their first fight, was a closely contested one. This time around, the judges’ verdict was a split decision in favor of Volkanovski.
The MMA community has been divided with regard to who ought to have been awarded the decision victories in both fights between Max Holloway and Alexander Volkanovski.
Certain sections of the MMA world have gone as far as claiming that Holloway did more than enough to warrant a decision win in both fights. Nevertheless, the consensus in the current combat sports landscape is that the Holloway vs. Volkanovski trilogy bout is unlikely to be booked anytime soon.
Furthermore, Volkanovski is likely to defend his UFC featherweight title against Brian Ortega next. Ortega recently returned to the win column with a brilliant showing against The Korean Zombie, aka Chan Sung Jung, earlier this year.
Meanwhile, Calvin Kattar is presently riding a two-fight winning streak, having beaten Jeremy Stephens via KO in May of this year and Dan Ige via unanimous decision in July.
The winner of the Max Holloway vs. Calvin Kattar bout is likely to receive the next shot at the winner of the UFC featherweight title fight between Alexander Volkanovski and Brian Ortega.
Max Holloway vs. Calvin Kattar will headline the UFC Fight Night 186 card on January 16th, 2021. Another notable fight that’ll take place on the card is the return of top-tier welterweight Santiago Ponzinibbio, who’ll fight Muslim Salikhov.
