Holloway Puts on Stunning Shut-Out Striking Performance Over Kattar
Holloway saw nothing short of success when competing in his first non-championship fight since 2016
Putting together a stellar performance in his first non-championship fight since 2016, Max Holloway took a unanimous decision (50-43, 50-43 & 50-42) win against Calvin Kattar in the main event.

Mounting a steep lead on the scorecards after five wins, Holloway showed his quick and accurate fists on Kattar.

While the matchup showed Kattar’s toughness and his ability to stay on his feet despite getting hit with tough shots, it arguably could have been stopped in the third or fourth rounds, where Holloway was nearly putting together one-way traffic.

“You gotta kill me to get me out of there,” said Kattar in his post-fight interview.

Holloway had a strong start to the fight, overwhelming Kattar in the first round with accurate and quick strikes.

Holloway landed an elbow in the second round that visibly hurt Kattar. Holloway continued to come forward with punches after. Kattar got clipped by a head kick in the closing seconds of the round, although he remained on his feet.

Holloway continued to hurt Kattar in the third round, although Kattar was able to answer back with some of his best shots as the fight continued.

A body shot seemingly hurt Kattar in the fourth round, causing him to shell up with his back against the cage. Despite eating numerous punches, Kattar kept on his feet and periodically answered back with a shot of his own, although he was taking a large amount of damage.

Showboating in a much slowed down final round, Holloway dodged a series of punches from Kattar while his hands were at his side.

The win for Holloway arguably lines him up for a chance to reclaim the UFC Featherweight Championship. Holloway’s first title reign with the belt was stopped in 2019 by Alexander Volkanovski. A close rematch between the two in July of 2020 saw Volkanovski pull away with a split decision win.

While Volkanovski is the current featherweight champ, that could change by the time Holloway gets a chance at the belt. News broke on Saturday that Volkanovski will fight Brian Ortega at UFC 260 on March 27th, where he has the chance to defend his belt for the second time.

Holloway made an optimistic claim after the fight that he could be an alternate for next week’s UFC 257 lightweight fight between Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier.

Kattar entered the fight after a strong 2020 that saw him pick up two wins. More recently of the two was a five-round decision victory over Dan Ige in July. Before then, Kattar had a stoppage win against Jeremy Stephens at UFC’s first event back from COVID-19 in May.

Bout 9: Carlos Condit (31-13) vs. Matt Brown (22-17) (Welterweight)

Condit Earns Scorecard Win Over Fellow Veteran Brown
Carlos Condit picked up a victory in the co-main event, defeating Matt Brown with a unanimous decision win (30-27, 30-27 & 30-27). The matchup between two veterans was Condit’s second-straight victory since breaking a five-fight losing streak.

While Brown had moments in the fight, Condit had strong wrestling and a higher output of strikes throughout.

Brown scored a takedown early in the first round, keeping control over Condit for the rest of the round afterwards.

Condit had a better second round, being able to take Brown down and score with punches while on top.

Condit was able to get on the back of Brown in the third round. While he looked for a rear naked choke from the position, Brown was able to escape the attempt.

Brown had a strong finish to the fight, throwing elbows while on top in full guard.

A fight between Condit and Brown has been booked twice in the past, although on both occasions an injury prevented the fight from actually happening.

Brown’s previous fight was a finish loss to Miguel Baeza in May of 2020.

Bout 8: Santiago Ponzinibbio (27-3) vs. Li Jingliang (17-6) (Welterweight)

Li Ends Win Eight-Fight Win Streak With Knockout To Ponzinibbio
Li Jingliang pulled off an upset on the main card, knocking Santiago Ponzinibbio with a left hook late in the first round.

The left hook came as part of a two-punch combination thrown by Li in the final minute of the round. While Li missed with a right hand, his left dropped Ponzinibbio, ending the fight immediately.

The bout was Ponzinibbio’s return to the cage after over two years outside of the cage. While he entered the fight following an absence, he did so on a seven-fight win streak that he built from 2015 to 2018.

Li returned to the win column following a loss in March of 2020 to Neil Magny.

Bout 7: Joaquin Buckley (12-3) vs. Alessio Di Chirico (12-5) (Middleweight)

Di Chirico Knocks Buckley Out With Head Kick, Concludes Losing Streak
Alessio Di Chirico derailed the late 2020 momentum of Joaquin Buckley on the main card, knocking him out with a head kick in the first round.