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Max Holloway enters foreign territory tomorrow afternoon (Saturday, January 16, 2021) at UFC Fight Island 7 when he takes on Calvin Katter live on ABC from the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. Not only will this be the UFC’s first main event on ABC, but it will be Holloway’s first untitled fight since 2016.
Holloway, who has just suffered back-to-back losses to current UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski, is trying to fight his way into a title fight in 2021. The former division champion and major player in the league UFC of all time is going to have to win a few fights to get there. And while “Blessed” thinks he still has the best fighting skills in the division, he’s not towering over Kattar this weekend on “Fight Island”.
“He’s standing in front of me for a reason,” Holloway told UFC.com. “I have to respect that. At the end of the day, I can’t wait. He deserved his place to be here, but on Saturday night we find a lot of answers.
This will be Holloway’s first untitled fight since a decision victory over Ricardo Lamas at UFC 199. It happened well over four years ago and some fans believe Holloway’s current situation could lead to a more hungry “Blessed” inside the cage. Holloway might agree he has to win this fight to stay afloat at 145 pounds, but the veteran remains adamant that he pays the same attention in each of his fights.
“I see this stuff and I respect it,” he said. “That’s what some people like to say. That’s what most people say. But the difference is that I was hungry. The last fight, I trained on Zoom. How hungry can someone be? We couldn’t train in person. I had to practice on Zoom. We understood it and I was hungry. Can’t wait to go on Saturday night and not necessarily remind people or show people; I just wanna go over there and do my thing.
Holloway, who despite his long tenure in the UFC is only 29, is in a better position than most to regain his spot in the line for a featherweight title shot. That’s because “Blessed” will be making a comeback in the Octagon against Kattar on TV. He will have the opportunity to impress sports fans who have never seen an MMA fight before and to create an even bigger audience as he approaches one of the most important years of his career.
“Fighting on ABC is huge,” Holloway said. “You want to talk about titles, you want to talk about à la carte fights, it’s the crème de la crème. I know a la carte guys who would love to be on ABC. It’s the first fight of the year for the UFC, so it’s huge. It’s opportunities like this where I can help introduce people to mixed martial arts, help people learn about UFC, so I’m excited that way.
UFC Fight Island 7 will mark Holloway’s second trip to the Abu Dhabi fight getaway as he lost a split decision to Volkanovski at UFC 251 last July.
MMAmania.com will provide live, turn-based, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC Fight Island 7 fight card HERE, starting with the ESPN + “Preliminary” matches at 12 p.m. ET, then the main card balance on ESPN + and ABC at 3 p.m. ET.
For more information on UFC Fight Island 7 fight cards, click here.
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