New Hampshire UFC Fighter Taking On #1 Contender This Weekend
I love when local people get deservingly put on a national stage. It happened for Devin Powell, who is a local New Hampshire guy that owns Nostos MMA and Conditioning Facility in Somersworth, when he was featured in some UFC fights, and it's happening for another local New Hampshire guy this weekend.
Tomorrow afternoon on ABC, Calvin Kattar, who is Methuen, Massachusetts born and raised but owns Combat Zone MMA in Salem (New Hampshire...Canobie, not witches), will fight the #1 contender in the world, Max Holloway, in the UFC's upcoming event, UFC Fight Island 7.
Calvin has been a pretty successful Featherweight throughout his UFC career. He has a 22-4-0 record to combat Max's 21-6-0 record. It's a tough test for Calvin, though, since Max's last 4 fights have been title fights (plus, when you're the #1 contender in the world, you're a pretty tough opponent regardless how many times you've fought for titles.)
But according to a recent interview with WMUR, Calvin thinks it's possible that Max could be overlooking him since he's just coming off a loss to UFC Featherweight Champion Alexander Volkanovski, which Calvin thinks is a massive mistake because he's more than ready and feels like he's earned the fight.
There have been rumors, too, that if Calvin wins this fight (and a lot of UFC fans think he will, because the guy is just a solid beast), that he'll demand a title show against Alexander, and rightfully so. Logic says if you have a killer record and you beat the #1 contender, shouldn't you become the new #1 contender? Granted, a lot more goes into that with other records and rankings, but still.
Honestly, anybody that decides to make their career and living out of getting punched in the face and choked out -- I give them so much credit. And also want to become their best friend. And never want to get on their bad side. I think it's an amazing, competitive sport, but I get curious on how someone gets to the point where they want that to be their living. But I respect it so much.
Calvin and Max are the main event of the main card for UFC Fight Island 7, live from Abu Dhabi, tomorrow afternoon, and the main card kicks off at 3p on ABC.
Go get 'em, Calvin! Make the 603 and the 978 proud! (Well, prouder than you already have. Please don't guillotine choke me for that one, good sir.)