The UFC kicks off on Saturday with a blast from 2021.
UFC on ABC 1 marks the promotion’s return to network television after a two-year absence from previous broadcast partner FOX Sports. It is the first of three events in eight days in Abu Dhabi. And the first UFC main event of 2021 looks like a potential firefighter on paper as former UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway takes on fast-rising Bostonian Calvin Kattar in a five-round scrap.
UFC on ABC 1 takes place on Saturday at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. The main map airs on ABC and is streamed on ESPN + after prelims on ESPN +.
Without further ado, here are five burning questions that UFC on ABC 1 should answer.
How will Max Holloway react to a major crossroads in her career?
Max Holloway
Holloway (21-6 MMA, 17-6 UFC) has lost three of his past four fights, but not all 1-3 pieces are equal.
At UFC 236, Holloway, as a featherweight champion, went up in weight and endured five rounds before losing a decision to Dustin Poirier in an interim title fight. At UFC 240, he beat Frankie Edgar in a title defense. At UFC 245, he suffered a clear loss against Alexander Volkanovski by unanimous decision. At UFC 251, Volkanovski won a very controversial split decision, as many – including this reporter – felt that Holloway had won the fight.
A 1-3 under these conditions, fighting the best competition in the world, running the distance in each fight and demonstrably getting robbed in one fight is a lot different from a fighter losing three out of four and looking like they’re done.
But this still doesn’t soften the cold facts of the situation: Volkanovski is still the champion; Holloway will have a long way back as long as that is the case, and the competition is not getting any easier. Kattar (22-4 MMA, 6-2 UFC) is on a tear, and as such Holloway’s first non-title fight since 2016 should serve as a gauge of whether he’ll stand another chance.
Can Calvin Kattar make his most definitive statement?
It may seem like Kattar is an emerging prospect that has emerged on the scene in recent years. After all, we’re only three and a half years away from his UFC debut, when he scored what was then considered an upset win over Andre Fili at UFC 214.
But in reality this was a long climb for Kattar. This week, chatter showed up on Twitter noting the almost forgotten fact that Kattar was on the undercard of the legendary Elite XC event of June 2008 on CBS, which was crowned by the late Kimbo Slice vs. James Thompson.
The Bostonian has been fighting professionally since 2007, three years before Holloway made his debut.
Some are put on the fast track. Some come the hard way. Kattar’s career is peaking at the right time, with enough experience in his pocket to have seen and done it all, while still young enough, at 32, to be on top of his physical game.
Twelve years later, he gets the chance to take on a world-class competitor like Holloway. And with that, the chance to prove that we should have paid more attention from the start.
Matt Brown vs. Carlos Condit is much too late. And then?
Carlos Condit v Matt Brown
Maybe you came by during the rise of Ronda Rousey and don’t know what Matt Brown was like during his heyday.
Or maybe you started watching as Carlos Condit went through a five-fight loss streak and wondered what all the fuss was about “The Natural Born Killer.”
If you missed their prime lenses, well you missed it. Condit (31-13 MMA, 8-9 UFC) was a championship-level fighter who never lost his knack for thrilling carnage. Brown (22-17 MMA, 15-11 UFC) never rose all the way to Condit’s title level, but he made the most of his talent and complemented it with pure heart, culminating in a UFC win streak of seven fights from 2012- 14.
Gradually, Brown vs. Condit advertised as a dream fight with all the trimmings. It was scheduled twice and dropped out both times.
Now the time has finally come. Brown just turned 40. Condit will be 37 in April. Both have been injured. Neither will make another run on a title. But Condit wins, and Brown has won two out of three. Condit is in the final fight of his UFC deal and Brown has hinted that this could be his last tango, so both have a lot of motivation.
Maybe this isn’t the fight it might have been a decade ago, but let’s just appreciate that this fight is finally here and sit back and enjoy.
Can Santiago Ponzinibbio pick up where he left off?
It was both a statement win and the culmination of a long journey: Santiago Ponzinibbio knocked out Neil Magny in the fourth round of their UFC Buenos Aires main event, a momentous moment in his hometown, his seventh straight win, his second ‘Performance of the Nacht ”in three fights, and a final statement that he had reached the top rung of the welterweight division.
That fight took place in November 2018, and that was the last we saw from Ponzinibbio (27-3 MMA, 9-2 UFC) until this week. Injuries and health issues like staph infection sidelined him right after his biggest moment, and the division has shifted quite a bit in his absence.
Will ring rust get in the way or can Ponzinibbio pick up where it left off? It really is as simple as that for the Argentinian, who is on the main card of the night for a solid replacement in Li Jinliang (17-6 MMA, 9-4 UFC).
Can Joaquin Buckley continue to build momentum?
See, unless Joaquin Buckley becomes the next-generation version of a prime Anderson Silva, we probably won’t see anything ever approaching his great knockout of Impa Kasanganay.
But Buckley appears to be on something more important in the long run: establishing that he is on track to become a legitimate contender in the middleweight division.
Buckley (12-3 MMA, 2-1 UFC) turned from his viral peak in October and fought Jordan Wright at UFC 255 a month later, this time showing poise and patience by wearing Wright down and old-school ground. en-pounds to earn a second round TKO.
So Buckley has shown that he can do it both the flashy and the gritty way. Now he’s back for his third fight in three months, taking on Alessio Di Chirico (12-5 MMA, 3-5 UFC). This may not be the fight that will lead him to the top of the division, but three wins in three months would be a great way to show that you are eager to prove that you are ready to climb that ladder and climb it fast.