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Max Holloway may no longer have the title, but he went a long way to prove he was still the best featherweight in the sport with his performance at UFC Fight Island 7.
In five innings, Holloway put together a hitting clinic while absolutely dominating Calvin Kattar from start to finish in their main clash. Without Kattar’s incredible toughness and durability, Holloway would almost certainly have won a finish, but instead he came out of the Octagon with a lopsided unanimous decision victory.
The final scorecards were 50-43, 50-43 and 50-42 as Holloway returned to the winning column after suffering a heartbreaking pair of losses to reigning featherweight king Alexander Volkanovski.
Full of intensity after the fight, Holloway didn’t spend time talking about his victory, but instead turned to the main event of UFC 257 which took place a week from Saturday.
“A big, big fight next week – Dustin Poirier vs. Conor McGregor,” Holloway shouted to the crowd at Etihad Arena. “Guess what? Your boy stays all week, if something happens in this sport, someone drops off, Dana knows my number, he can hit me.
Before he started looking ahead, Holloway managed to unleash arguably one of his best performances yet while blasting Kattar from head to toe in five rounds.
Well known for his hitting volume, Holloway started off incredibly fast in the first round as the former champion threw three and four punches combinations while also mixing a series of searing kicks. Holloway mixed his strikes, going to the head and body as Kattar appeared to struggle in his attempt to call during the rally.
Katter managed to pull a few stiff right hands that caught Holloway’s attention, but the New England native was constantly eating punches that kept him on his back foot.
Holloway, an offensive spirit, was just overwhelming as every minute passed in the fight as he came after Kattar with suffocating pressure. Holloway was just relentless as he hollowed out the body with punches, then rose to the head with a variety of punches.
At the end of the second round, Holloway really started to deliver the punishment, including a brutal pair of nudges that opened up a cut to Kattar’s head and almost knocked him out of his feet. Somehow, Kattar survived but he was the wounded one on foot with Holloway looking to pounce to kill.
Holloway’s confidence continued to blossom as he put together round after round against Kattar, who was resigned to the big counters to one punch in an attempt to get back into the fight. Kattar managed to hook onto Holloway’s chin on several occasions while trying to use his fighting power, but the Hawaiian legend just walked in like nothing was bothering him.
At the end of the fourth round, Holloway started to really push the pace while absolutely hitting Kattar with body shots and elbows to the head. There were several times when it looked like Kattar was only still standing because he was being pushed against the cage but he refused to come down or give up while still continuing to punch every time he did. he was given a moment to breathe.
It was more or less the same for the last five minutes with Holloway smiling and having fun while trading blows with Kattar, who had a crushed nose and blood running down his face as he left everything in the cage. to survive until the final horn.
“I’m not going to take a knee for anyone,” Kattar said after the fight. “If you are not a Max Holloway fan, you are a hater.”
While Kattar’s tenacity is to be commended, it was Holloway’s night from start to finish as he looked better than ever in his first untitled fight since 2016.
Regardless of two losses to the current champion, it will be extremely difficult to deny Holloway another shot at gold considering how he dismantled Kattar in five rounds to solidify his No.1 featherweight spot at the world.
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