Former UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway delivered one of his best efforts to date in the UFC Fight Night main event on Fight Island, as he shut out ultra-tough contender Calvin Kattar over five rounds.
Scores were 50-43, 50-43 and 50-42 for the No. 1-ranked Holloway, 22-6, who was coming off a pair of losses to current champion Alexander Volkanovski. The No. 6-ranked Kattar falls to 22-5.
Holloway got down to business right away, sending straight punches down the middle in rapid-fire fashion. Kattar got in his shots, but not at the pace Holloway was throwing them. And as the round progressed, Holloway wasn’t slowing down, leaving Kattar on the defensive. Add in a couple body kicks and it was a big first round for “Blessed.”
It was more of the same in the second, and though Kattar did have his moments, when it looked like the New Englander might be getting into a rhythm, Holloway would take his work rate to a new level. With a little over a minute left, Holloway unleashed elbows that hurt Kattar and cut him, and just before the horn, a head kick put the Methuen native back in trouble.
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Kattar got in a flush uppercut in the second minute of round three that froze Holloway momentarily, and a couple follow-up shots kicked off a nice exchange. Midway through the round, though, Holloway returned the favor with an uppercut that was answered by a right hand by Kattar. In the late stages of the round, Holloway dug to the body before going upstairs, and it was another dominant round.
After a fairly patient start to the fourth round, Holloway opened up with his entire arsenal, hurting Kattar and putting him in danger of being stopped. Yet just when it looked like referee Herb Dean was going to step in, Kattar would fire back, refusing to back down.
Holloway hurt Kattar again in the second minute of round five, the Hawaiian refusing to take his foot off the gas. And he kept that pace until the final horn, capping off one of his greatest performances.
Official Result: Max Holloway def. Calvin Kattar by unanimous decision (50-43, 50-43, 50-42)
