UFC Fight Night Max Holloway vs. Calvin Kattar – Live updates and results

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The former feathery king searches for a path back to the crown. Max Holloway will face Calvin Kattar in a pivotal featherweight bout at UFC Fight Night’s main event on Saturday in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. It’s the first UFC show of the year and the main card airs on ABC, home to boxing for several decades.

The winner of this fight could be next in line for a title opportunity. ESPN has Holloway number 2 and Kattar number 6 in the featherweight division.

Holloway (21-6) is dropped two in a row to current champion Alexander Volkanovski. Both matches were very close, and many believed Holloway won the second at UFC 251 in July. Holloway, 29, is the most decorated featherweight in UFC history. He held a 145-pound title in the UFC from 2016 to 2019. The Hawaii native has the most wins (16), the most KO / TKO wins (8), and the most wins (10) in UFC featherweight history.

Kattar (22-4) has won two in a row and four of his last five. The Massachusetts native has four finishes in six UFC wins. Kattar, 32, made a unanimous decision on Dan Ige last July.

The co-main event will see two of the most exciting fighters in UFC welterweight history – Carlos Condit and Matt Brown – face each other. Condit (31-13), a former UFC interim welterweight champion, broke a losing streak of five fights in his most recent bout, a win over Court McGee. Brown (22-17) had a winning streak of two fights in his last fight against Miguel Baeza.

Also on the card, welterweight contender Santiago Ponzinibbio returns to Li Jingliang after more than two years due to illness, and knockout artist Joaquin Buckley meets Alessio Di Chirico in a welterweight bout.

A strong card gets an extra boost of adrenaline as fans are allowed into the Etihad Arena. The building can accommodate 18,000, but only 2,000 fans are admitted.

Fight in progress:

Women’s Bantamweight: Wu Yanan (11-3, 1-2 UFC, -115) vs. Joselyne Edwards (9-2, 0-0 UFC, -105)

Results:

Heavyweight: Carlos Felipe (10-1, 2-1 UFC) vs. Justin Tafa (4-2, 1-2 UFC) by split decision

With 20 seconds to go, Felipe and Tafa were in the middle of the Octagon, throwing hard punch combinations at each other. The 2,000 paid fans – the first to witness a UFC event since March last year – cheered loudly.

Felipe eventually won a split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28) against Tafa in a very close fight. But what people will remember about this battle for great heavyweights will not be who won and who lost. It will be how they got the first UFC audience up and running in 10 months with an incredibly entertaining brawl.

Tafa controlled the first round. He landed hard kicks on Felipe’s body and legs. At one point, he nearly took Felipe off his feet with a kick in the right leg. You could see red toe marks on Felipe’s thigh from Tafa’s brutal kicks. In the second, however, Felipe gained momentum. He rocked Tafa with a large combination culminating in a large right hand. Tafa pulled back to the cage and Felipe hurt him again with hooks to the body while Tafa shivered. The two closed the round with a big exchange in the middle as the audience cheered.

In the third, both men had their moments. Tafa made some hard body shots up close. It was as if the two gigantic men were fighting in a phone booth. Later, Felipe landed with a big elbow that stunned Tafa for a moment. The fight ended when the two attacked each other, risking the loss of consciousness of setting the crowd on fire.

Felipe, 26, has now won two consecutive games after losing in his UFC debut. The Brazilian native also has professional boxing experience. Tafa, a 27-year-old native of Australia, has now dropped two out of three in the UFC.

– Raimondi

Watch this fight on ESPN +.

Welterweight: Ramazan Emeev (20-4, 5-1 UFC) def.David Zawada (17-6, 1-3 UFC) via split decision

Emeev had to dig deep in lap 3. Actually, both men did.

After being knocked down and in a packed position, Emeev managed to escape danger by switching positions to get to the top. And even after losing that position, the 33-year-old Russian went back to work with aggression and pressure, earning the decision on the scorecards of two of the three judges for his ninth win in his last 10 fights.

All three who scored on cageside had the game 29-28.

Zawada also had something to overcome in Round 3, and he almost did. He had been knocked down several times in the first two rounds, and a right hand from Emeev to the right by the horn that ended the second round – or a split second after the horn – opened a cut next to the 30-year-old German’s left eye. He fought most of round 3 with blood dripping in his eye, but he almost got the job done by gaining a dominant position.

Instead, it was the third defeat in his past four fights for Zawada, who had not competed since 2019.

– Wagenheim

Watch this fight on ESPN +.

Women’s Bantamweight: Vanessa Melo (11-8, 1-3 UFC) beats Sarah Moras (6-8, 3-6 UFC) by unanimous decision

For three rounds, Melo walked forward and threw powerful punches. She ate a few jabs in the process and not every big hook landed, but she did enough to earn the win.

Melo defeated Moras by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28) in a bantamweight women’s fight, the first UFC women’s fight of 2021.

The main strike came in the second round. Melo hit a combination that culminated in a kick left hook, which broke Moras in the nose. Moras’ mouthpiece fell out after the punch landed and her nose got bloody. Moras had some success with her jab and leg kicks. But there was little doubt that Melo took the hardest blows during the fight.

Melo, 32, had broken a three-fight loss streak. The Brazilian took her first UFC victory. Moras, a 32-year-old born in Canada, has now dropped two straights and five of her past six.

“I feel very happy and honored to have my first UFC win,” said Melo. “I can’t even explain how happy I am. I just want to keep evolving, training harder and growing.

“I’m honored to be here, it was an honor to be on the first Fight Island, an honor to be here with the fans for the first time – it’s not that many fans, but it’s fun, it’s a new one. start for the UFC. and everyone. “

– Raimondi

Watch this fight on ESPN +.

Featherweight Men: Austin Lingo (8-1, 1-1 UFC) def.Jacob Kilburn (8-4, 0-2 UFC) by unanimous decision

Lingo hadn’t fought since his first defeat last February. But it didn’t take him long to get back on track, dropping Kilburn within the first 30 seconds. But his work was not finished yet.

After Kilburn climbed upright again, Lingo began bombarding him with sharp jabs, left hooks and more right hands on the way to securing the kink on all three scorecards.

Two judges scored the fight 30-26 and others had it 30-27.

Kilburn didn’t make it easy in his first fight since 2019, despite the skewed scorecards. The 25-year-old from Clarksville, Tennessee, tried takedown after takedown, and as the fight went on, he seemed to be the fresher competitor. But he couldn’t avoid Lingo’s punches and suffered his second straight loss.

Lingo, 26 and fighting for Dallas, had taken part in the loss to Youssef Zalal last February.

– Wagenheim

Watch this fight without ESPN +.

Is yet to come:

Featherweight Men: Max Holloway (21-6, 17-6 UFC, -160) vs. Calvin Kattar (22-4, 6-2 UFC, +135)
Welterweight: Carlos Condit (31-13, 8-9 UFC, -170) vs. Matt Brown (24-17, 15-11 UFC, +145)
Welterweight: Santiago Ponzinibbio (28-3, 9-2 UFC, -310) vs. Li Jingliang (17-6, 9-4 UFC, +250)
Middleweight: Joaquin Buckley (12-3, 2-1 UFC, -300) vs. Alessio Di Chirico (12-5, 3-5 UFC, +240)
Middleweight: Punahele Soriano (7-0, 1-0 UFC, +135) vs. Dusko Todorovic (10-0, 1-0 UFC, -160)

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