Tag: Calvin Kattar

Calvin Kattar vs. Youssef Zalal in the works for February’s UFC Fight Night 251

Youssef Zalal’s big 2024 has resulted in a marquee fight to kick off his UFC calendar in 2025.

After a big 2024, [autotag]Youssef Zalal[/autotag] has earned himself a marquee matchup.

At UFC Fight Night 251 on Feb. 15, Zalal (16-5-1 MMA, 6-3-1 UFC) will battle perennial featherweight contender [autotag]Calvin Kattar[/autotag] (23-8 MMA, 7-6 UFC) in a three-round bout at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The entire card streams on ESPN+.

Two people with knowledge of the matchup recently informed MMA Junkie of the booking but asked to remain anonymous as the promotion has yet to make an official announcement. Zalal also discussed the matchup on a recent episode of the “JAXXON Podcast.”

Zalal was cut from the UFC in 2022, but worked his way back into the promotion in 2024. He was signed for a short-notice return bout vs. Billy Quarantillo, who he submitted. Jarno Errens and Jack Shore faced the same fate thereafter, falling victim to Zalal’s slick jiu-jitsu skills.

Kattar aims to snap a three-fight skid that includes defeats against Josh Emmett, Arnold Allen, and most recently, Aljamain Sterling. Kattar was scheduled to fight Kyle Nelson in September, but withdrew due to injury.

With the addition, the UFC Fight Night 251 lineup includes:

  • Jared Cannonier vs. Gregory Rodrigues
  • Edson Barboza vs. Steve Garcia
  • Calvin Kattar vs. Youssef Zalal
  • Yuneisy Duben vs. Carli Judice
  • Ismael Bonfim vs. Nazim Sadykhov
  • Gabriel Bonfim vs. Rinat Fakhretdinov
  • Jose Delgado vs. Connor Matthews
  • Billy Ray Goff vs. Nikolay Veretennikov
  • Dylan Budka vs. Edmen Shahbazyan
  • Vince Morales vs. Elijah Smith
  • Jesus Aguilar vs. Rafael Estevam
  • Don’Tale Mayes vs. Valter Walker
  • Kaue Fernandes vs. Jared Gordon
  • Rodolfo Vieira vs. opponent TBA

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 251.

Calvin Kattar out of UFC’s Sept. 7 featherweight scrap vs. Kyle Nelson

“The Boston Finisher” hasn’t had one in more than four years, and now it appears he’ll have to wait a little longer to pursue another one.

“The Boston Finisher” hasn’t had one in more than four years, and now it appears he’ll have to wait a little longer to pursue another one.

Longtime UFC featherweight contender [autotag]Calvin Kattar[/autotag] (23-8 MMA, 7-6 UFC) is out of his fight against rising Canadian standout [autotag]Kyle Nelson[/autotag] (16-5-1 MMA, 4-4-1 UFC) next month. The two were set to meet at the UFC’s Sept. 7 Fight Night event at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

A person with knowledge of Kattar’s withdrawal informed MMA Junkie of the news, but asked to remain anonymous because the promotion has not yet made an official announcement. The promotion is seeking a new opponent for Nelson to keep him on the card.

Kattar was looking to snap a three-fight losing skid. He most recently lost a unanimous decision at UFC 300 to former bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling. The bout was Kattar’s first since a knee injury that required surgery during his October 2022 bout vs. Arnold Allen.

Nelson started 1-4-1 in the UFC, but since has won three straight. After decisions over Blake Bilder and Fernando Padilla, Nelson picked up his biggest UFC win yet in March when he finished Bill Algeo with a first-round knockout.

With the change, the UFC’s Sept. 7 lineup now includes:

  • Gilbert Burns vs. Sean Brady
  • Jessica Andrade vs. Natalia Silva
  • Kyle Nelson vs. TBA
  • Alessandro Costa vs. Matt Schnell
  • Felipe dos Santos vs. Andre Lima
  • Jaqueline Amorim vs. Vanessa Demopoulos
  • Isaac Dulgarian vs. Brendon Marotte
  • Dylan Budka vs. Andre Petroski
  • Gabriel Santos vs. Yi Zha
  • Yanal Ashmouz vs. Trevor Peek
  • Marcus McGhee vs. Aiemann Zahabi
  • Ovince Saint Preux vs. Ryan Spann
  • Chris Padilla vs. Rong Zhu

Unfortunate circumstances: 15 unforeseen injuries that ended UFC main events

Injuries are part of the game in MMA, but there’s nothing worse than one ends a marquee UFC fight.

While the term “freak injury” might not be appropriate to use when discussing a sport that is inherently dangerous, 14 UFC main events have ended in unforeseen injuries – broken legs, separated shoulders, eye pokes, etc. – that don’t typically come in the sequence of MMA combat.

Scroll below to see a chronology of UFC main events that ended in that nature.

Note: Injuries sustained on a TKO due to strikes or tapout due to a submission are not included, nor are retirements on the stool due to extended fight damage or exhaustion. Laceration-based stoppages also are not included since they come as an intentional result of the opposition’s attack.

UFC books Calvin Kattar vs. Kyle Nelson for September

UFC featherweight vets Calvin Kattar and Kyle Nelson will fight Sept. 7 in a three-round bout.

A perennial UFC contender will seek a much-needed win against a rising Canadian who is looking to win the most high-profile fight of his life thus far.

[autotag]Calvin Kattar[/autotag] and [autotag]Kyle Nelson[/autotag] will square off in a three-round bout on Sept. 7 at a UFC Fight Night event. The location of the event is unknown at this time.

Two people with knowledge of the matchup recently informed MMA Junkie of the booking but asked to remain anonymous as the promotion has yet to make an official announcement.

The New England Cartel’s Kattar (23-8 MMA, 7-6 UFC) aims to snap a three-fight losing skid. He most recently competed at UFC 300 when he lost a unanimous decision to Aljamain Sterling in a grindy, wrestle-heavy affair. The bout was Kattar’s first since a knee injury that required surgery during his October 2022 bout vs. Arnold Allen.

House of Champions MMA’s Nelson (16-5-1 MMA, 4-4-1 UFC) started 1-4-1 in the UFC, but has since won three fights in a row. After decisions over Blake Bilder and Fernando Padilla, Nelson picked up his most emphatic UFC victory to date in March when he finished Bill Algeo with strikes in Round 1.

The current UFC Fight Night lineup for Sept. 7 includes:

  • Calvin Kattar vs. Kyle Nelson

Video: Can Aljamain Sterling thrive in the UFC featherweight division?

A former UFC bantamweight champion, will Aljamain Sterling find similar success a weight class higher? We discuss on “Spinning Back Clique.”

On the latest episode of “Spinning Back Clique,” the panel discusses [autotag]Aljamain Sterling[/autotag]’s move to the featherweight division.

This Saturday, the former UFC bantamweight champion goes up to 145 pounds to take on veteran [autotag]Calvin Kattar[/autotag] on the preliminary card of UFC 300 in Las Vegas. It’s a big addition to the featherweight division, given Sterling’s status in the sport. But can he find success just like he did a weight class below?

MMA Junkie’s Brian “Goze” Garcia, Danny Segura, Nolan King, and host “Gorgeous” George Garcia discuss Sterling’s decision to move up and his potential in this new division.

Watch their discussion in the video above, and also don’t miss this week’s complete episode of “Spinning Back Clique” below on YouTube.

https://youtube.com/live/fSjkR02NKpM

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 300.

Spinning Back Clique REPLAY: Everything UFC 300 – Pereira vs. Hill, BMF title fight, Harrison’s debut, more

On this week’s episode of “Spinning Back Clique,” the panel discusses everything UFC 300.

Check out this week’s special edition of “Spinning Back Clique,” where we’ll be breaking down everything UFC 300.

This week’s panel will be composed of Brian “Goze” Garcia, Danny Segura, and host “Gorgeous” George Garcia – along with appearances from Matt Wells, Mike Bohn, Farah Hannoun, Dan Tom, and Nolan King.

For this Monday’s special episode, the panel discussed:

  • The pair of undisputed UFC championship fights headlining UFC 300. In the main event, [autotag]Alex Pereira[/autotag] makes his first light heavyweight title defense against former champion  [autotag]Jamahal Hill[/autotag], who returns from injury. In the co-main event, [autotag]Zhang Weili[/autotag] takes on fellow Chinese fighter [autotag]Yan Xiaonan[/autotag] in a women’s strawweight bout.
  • The first-ever Baddest Motherf*cker title defense, as BMF champion [autotag]Justin Gaethje[/autotag] welcomes back [autotag]Max Holloway[/autotag] to the lightweight division. Other key lightweight bouts go down, including [autotag]Charles Oliveira[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Arman Tsarukyan[/autotag], [autotag]Jalin Turner[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Renato Moicano[/autotag], [autotag]Jim Miller[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Bobby Green[/autotag].
  • Highly-touted undefeated middleweight prospect [autotag]Bo Nickal[/autotag]’s return to action. He takes on Cody Brundage in the opening bout of the pay-per-view main card. This will be Nickal’s third fight under the UFC banner.
  • Two-time PFL champion and two-time Judo Olympic gold medalist [autotag]Kayla Harrison[/autotag] makes her highly awaited UFC debut. She takes on former champion [autotag]Holly Holm[/autotag] at bantamweight – a division Harrison will be debuting in. Harrison has previously fought at 155 and 145 pounds.
  • Former UFC bantamweight champion [autotag]Aljamain Sterling[/autotag] has moved up to featherweight. Veteran contender [autotag]Calvin Kattar[/autotag] welcomes him to the division.
  • To cap off the show, the panel will do a quick promo breakdown to hype up the four remaining bouts of the UFC 300 card. This includes [autotag]Jiri Prochazka[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Aleksandar Rakic[/autotag], [autotag]Sodiq Yusuff[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Diego Lopes[/autotag], [autotag]Jessica Andrade[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Marina Rodriguez[/autotag], and [autotag]Deiveson Figueiredo[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Cody Garbrandt[/autotag].

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 300.

Aljamain Sterling envisions early submission of Calvin Kattar at UFC 300, but won’t rush

Aljamain Sterling can picture taking out Calvin Kattar early.

[autotag]Aljamain Sterling[/autotag] can picture taking out [autotag]Calvin Kattar[/autotag] early.

Sterling (23-4 MMA, 15-4 UFC) meets Kattar (23-7 MMA, 7-5 UFC) in his featherweight debut at UFC 300 on April 13 from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

The former bantamweight champion has been able to take down the majority of his opponents, but won’t be seeking that right away – not until he gets accustomed to his new weight class during the fight.

“I feel like it could be first or second round if it were to get to that position,” Sterling said on submitting Kattar on his YouTube channel. “But honestly, I’m not going to go hunting for a takedown right out of the gate. I kind of want to get my feet wet a little bit, kind of like how (Deiveson Figueiredo) did. Just feel the power, feel the pushback, and then kind of go from there.

“Just feel the fight – let the fight come to me and not rush it. Do what I normally used to do – take my time and just see what comes to me, vs. trying to push the action to go on vacation. Now I’m out of vacation mode. I’m ready to scrap. I’m ready to compete. I got a burnout break, so I just feel like I have a fresh lease on my career.”

Kattar has only been submitted once in what was just his fourth professional fight in 2008. Meanwhile, Sterling has eight submissions on his resume, most recently a first-round rear-naked choke of top contender Cory Sandhagen in June 2020.

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 300.

Matchup Roundup: New UFC fights announced in the past week (Dec. 18-24)

All the UFC fight announcements that were first reported or confirmed by MMA Junkie in the past week.

MMA fight announcements are hard to follow. With so many outlets and channels available, it’s nearly impossible to organize.

But here at MMA Junkie, we’ve got your back.

Each week, we’ll compile all the newly surfaced fights in one spot. Every Monday, expect a feature listing everything you might have missed from the UFC.

Here are the fight announcements that were broken or confirmed by MMA Junkie or officially announced by the promotions from Dec. 18-24.

Dana White announces first UFC 300 bookings with Prochazka-Rakic, Sterling-Kattar, Bo Nickal

The historic UFC 300 lineup has its first trio of fights as UFC CEO Dana White rolled out some matchups on Thursday.

The historic UFC 300 lineup has its first trio of fights as UFC CEO Dana White rolled out some matchups on Thursday.

After teasing a loaded lineup for the monumental April 13 event at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, the opening slate of matchups features two former champions and one of the top undefeated prospects in the sport.

White took to social media and revealed former light heavyweight champ [autotag]Jiri Prochazka[/autotag] (29-4-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC) will take on [autotag]Aleksandar Rakic[/autotag] (14-3 MMA, 6-2 UFC), former bantamweight champion [autotag]Aljamain Sterling[/autotag] (23-4 MMA, 15-4 UFC) makes his featherweight debut vs. [autotag]Calvin Kattar[/autotag] (23-7 MMA, 7-5 UFC), and rising middleweight star [autotag]Bo Nickal[/autotag] (5-0 MMA, 2-0 UFC) clashes with [autotag]Cody Brundage[/autotag] (10-5 MMA, 4-4 UFC).

Prochazka, No. 3 in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie light heavyweight rankings, will attempt to rebound from his vacant title fight loss to Alex Pereira at UFC 295 in November, where he was stopped by second-round TKO. He’ll be charged with welcoming back No. 8-ranked Rakic, who hasn’t competed since he blew out his knee in an injury TKO loss to Jan Blachowicz at UFC on ESPN 36 in May 2022.

Kattar, No. 11 in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie featherweight rankings, will also try to rebound from a knee injury TKO loss against Arnold Allen in October 2022 when he welcomes No. 3-ranked bantamweight Sterling to a new division after he dropped the belt to Sean O’Malley by second-round TKO at UFC 292 in August.

Lastly, Nickal will try to add to his hype at 185-pounds following a 38-second knockout of Val Woodburn at UFC 290 in July when he meets Brundage, who is coming off a historic slam knockout at UFC on ESPN 52 this month.

The latest UFC 300 lineup now includes:

  • Jiri Prochazka vs. Aleksandar Rakic
  • Calvin Kattar vs. Aljamain Sterling
  • Cody Brundage vs. Bo Nickal

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 300.

Aljamain Sterling thinks Calvin Kattar a likely opponent for featherweight debut, but calls out an ex-champ, too

Aljamain Sterling is honing in on a possible opponent for his 145-pound debut.

LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Aljamain Sterling[/autotag] is honing in on a possible opponent for his 145-pound debut.

Sterling (23-4 MMA, 15-4 UFC) plans on moving up to featherweight for his next fight after losing his bantamweight title to Sean O’Malley at UFC 292.

“The Funkmaster” is targeting the upper echelon of the division right off the bat. He sees [autotag]Calvin Kattar[/autotag] (23-7 MMA, 7-5 UFC), who’s on the cusp of returning from knee surgery, as his likely next opponent for UFC 299 on March 9.

“Realistic scenario is probably myself and Calvin Kattar,” Sterling told MMA Junkie on the World MMA Awards red carpet. “He’s the only one that doesn’t have a fight and has been out for a bit, as well. At this point, come March, I’m probably going to be out for a bit as well. So with that said, I think that’s going to be the fight.”

But if it were up to Sterling, he’d fight former UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway (25-7 MMA, 21-7 UFC), who currently doesn’t have a fight booked.

“The Max Holloway fight would be a nice one – two former champions going at it,” Sterling said. “Max doesn’t really have much to do right now unless he’s going up to ’55. That’s still speculation.

“But if he gets bored … Max, ‘the best is Blessed’ but, ‘Funky’ has got something to say about that, as well. If you do decide to hang around at ’45, it would be an absolute honor to share the octagon with you.”

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