“I don’t really say I don’t like him, and I don’t not like him,” Kattar said. “I don’t really care about him. I’m not so much focused on him, except obviously I’m stepping in there with him. These guys – I just don’t care about none of them. I don’t care about these guys. I don’t care about Giga. I don’t care about Max. Credit to him. Good fight. Whatever. I just want to get back in there. Like I said, I’m just trying to get a W and get that show-and-win (money), and then just keep putting Cartel on the map. A win over Giga puts me right back into that race. I do have a vision down the line of me and Rob simultaneously holding belts, and I’m going to keep putting in the work to make that come to fruition.”
As a collective, the New England Cartel has hung its hat on putting the work first and everything else second, but it seems now more than ever, Kattar is chomping at the bit to get back into the Octagon.
View Kattar’s Athlete Profile Here
He understands the responsibility he carries as a Top 5 contender and what a win over Chikadze does for his career on January 15. Although he’s not focused on proving doubters wrong, Kattar has responded well to adversity in the Octagon. After his other two UFC losses to Renato Moicano and Zabit Magomedsharipov, he strung together back-to-back wins and climbed even higher in the rankings.
How a fighter is viewed is a part of the game, for better or worse, but Kattar has tunnel vision right now. The end of the tunnel is a UFC belt but, at the moment, Chikadze is the closest obstacle between him and gold, and that’s all Kattar cares about for the time being.
“I don’t give a f*** really about any of the bulls***,” he said “Really, when I step in there is what’s going to matter. I’m just focused on the s*** that matters. I get that this is a big part of the game, but I’m just kind of spent on all the bulls***, and I just want to go in, and especially after the last performance, I’m not so focused on all the right things to say and promoting the fight and all this and that, and I know it’s part of your job as the main event to try and go out and do some of that, but I’ll let Giga keep digging himself a deeper hole. I’ll let him handle all the s*** talking for that, and I’ll grab the shovel when it’s time to bury him.”
