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After the massive event that was UFC 280, this weekend’s Fight Night card feels like the comedown from a huge party, but it’s actually not a bad-looking show in its own right.
UFC Fight Night: Calvin Kattar vs. Arnold Allen features an excellent featherweight headliner, as well as a number of intriguing bouts up and down the card.
With that in mind, here are the predicted outcomes for UFC Fight Night: Calvin Kattar vs. Arnold Allen.
#1. UFC featherweight bout: Calvin Kattar vs. Arnold Allen
With both of these men ranked within the top 10 of the UFC’s featherweight division right now, and reigning champion Alexander Volkanovski about to make a foray into the lightweight division, there’s an outside chance that the winner of this clash could find himself pinged directly into contention.
It’s an interesting clash because while Calvin Kattar is undoubtedly the more proven fighter at the elite level, the momentum probably lies with Arnold Allen, who has still not suffered a defeat inside the octagon.
Kattar’s last three bouts have seen him win the Fight of the Night award, but only one of them has gone his way – his victory over Giga Chikadze in January. Interestingly, that was the first fight in over a year for ‘The Boston Finisher’, as he essentially needed a year off to recover from the beating he took from Max Holloway in 2021.
Kattar looked excellent in that fight, surprising Chikadze with an early takedown before largely outpointing him in the standup, particularly using some excellent step-in elbows to bloody him up.
However, his latest fight saw him suffer some tremendous damage at the hands of Josh Emmett. While he gave plenty back in return, it’s definitely arguable that just four months of rest won’t be enough for him to have properly recovered.
At his best, Kattar is an excellent fighter who mixes up his striking brilliantly, as he’s branched out from his early days as an almost pure boxer to add in elbows, strong clinch work, and some kicks to make him more dangerous.
Where he might fall down in this fight is the fact that Allen is one of the best technicians in the division. That's particularly when it comes to using his jab to set up his combinations, something Emmett had a lot of success with in his clash with ‘The Boston Finisher’.
‘Almighty’ is now on a lengthy nine-fight win streak dating back to his octagon debut in 2015. While he’s come under fire at times for an apparent safety-first approach, his last bout turned that idea on its head as he smashed Dan Hooker with a flurry in the first round.
The UK native isn’t just a striker, though, as he’s also got an excellent ground game, which we’ve seen flashes of in the octagon. He’s more than comfortable wherever a fight might take place, something that might not be said for his opponent this weekend.
More to the point, he’s suffered nowhere near the same amount of wear-and-tear that Kattar has despite actually debuting in the promotion before him. He’s not as proven at the top level, but that might be just because he’s only just breaking onto that stage.
Overall this fight won’t be easy for Allen, but he definitely feels like he’s on the up, while Kattar might be on the way down. S the pick is ‘Almighty’ via decision after a thriller.
The Pick: Allen via decision
#2. UFC welterweight bout: Max Griffin vs. Tim Means
Quite how this welterweight bout has been chosen as the co-headliner for this event is anyone’s guess. In fact, the choices for the main card as of the time of writing seem baffling as a whole, but hopefully it should produce some entertainment.
To be fair, both men usually bring the goods in the octagon even if they’re not elite-level fighters. Of the two, Tim Means has definitely been around the longest. Debuting in the UFC over a decade ago now with a win over Justin Salas, ‘The Dirty Bird’ will be heading into this weekend for his 25th appearance in the promotion, a massive achievement given he’s never cracked the rankings.
Means’ big strength is the way he uses his length and reach. While being 6’2” tall and boasting a 75” reach isn’t exactly freakish, ‘The Dirty Bird’ makes the most of it, using that height to abuse his opponents from the clinch and looking for chokes using his long arms on the ground.
The issue he has had over the years, particularly in recent times, is that he’s less durable than he once was. That's hardly a surprise given he made his MMA debut in 2004 and turns 39 years old next February.
All three of his most recent losses have come via some kind of finish, although it is worth noting that he’s actually only lost two of his last six.
Max Griffin, meanwhile, is only slightly younger than Means at 36, even if he doesn’t quite have the same level of experience. He’s been with the UFC since 2016. While his octagon debut saw him squashed by Colby Covington, he’s been largely solid since. Prior to a recent loss to Neil Magny, he was on the best run of his tenure with the promotion.
What makes this one interesting is that for once, Means will actually be giving up an inch of reach to his opponent. Can ‘Max Pain’ make the most of that? It’s debatable, as he doesn’t use that length like Means does, but can fight behind a jab which might negate ‘The Dirty Bird’ and his dangerous clinch.
Overall this should be a fun brawl to watch, but Means’ waning durability, the fact that he won’t have a reach advantage, and the fact that Griffin can really crack should give ‘Max Pain’ an advantage. The pick is Griffin via TKO.
The Pick: Griffin via second-round TKO
#3. UFC Fight Night: The Main Card
In a heavyweight bout, Jared Vanderaa welcomes debutant Waldo Cortes-Acosta to the octagon. Cortes-Acosta doesn’t really look like an elite-level prospect, with his appearance on Dana White’s Contender Series suggesting he’s got heavy power and fast hands but plenty of holes in his game too, but this one looks winnable for him.
Nicknamed ‘The Mountain’, Vanderaa is similar to his Game of Thrones namesake in terms of lacking speed, but he also seems to lack power and athleticism too. He is also currently on a four-fight slide in the octagon. With that considered, the pick is Cortes-Acosta via KO.
In a middleweight clash, Josh Fremd faces Tresean Gore. Fremd is somewhat of an unknown quantity, having lost his only bout in the UFC. Prior to that, he also suffered a loss to current rising star Gregory Rodrigues.
Gore, meanwhile, shone in his appearance on The UItimate Fighter, but he’s already 0-2 in the octagon proper and lacks overall experience. Given this lack of experience, this one could go either way really, but the pick is Fremd via TKO.
Finally, in a light-heavyweight tilt, accomplished kickboxer Dustin Jacoby faces Khalil Rountree Jr. Jacoby might actually be the most underrated fighter in this division, as he’s currently riding a nine-fight win streak and hasn’t suffered a loss since 2019.
Rountree, meanwhile, has serious power in his hands and feet, but he’s always lacked durability, meaning that his fights tend to end in some kind of violence either way. He has defeated a highly-rated kickboxer before in Gokhan Saki, but then ‘The Rebel’ was also past his best.
Overall, this one should be a wild fight to watch, but Rountree’s cruder striking style should play into Jacoby’s hands assuming ‘The Hanyak’ can avoid the big shot. The pick is Jacoby via KO.
#4. UFC Fight Night: The Prelims
Picks in bold
UFC middleweight bout: Phil Hawes vs. Roman Dolidze
UFC heavyweight bout: Andrei Arlovski vs. Marcos Rogerio de Lima
UFC middleweight bout: Park Jun Yong vs. Joseph Holmes
UFC featherweight bout: Chase Hooper vs. Steve Garcia
UFC flyweight bout: Kleydson Rodrigues vs. Cody Durden
UFC bantamweight bout: Christian Rodriguez vs. Garrett Armfield
