[autotag]Calvin Kattar[/autotag] earned arguably the biggest win of his career Saturday when he stopped [autotag]Jeremy Stephens[/autotag] in highlight-reel fashion at UFC 249.
In what was entirely a standup fight, Kattar (21-4 MMA, 5-2 UFC) find an opening to land a sickening elbow in the second round that dropped and stopped Stephens (28-18 MMA, 15-17 UFC) for the thrilling finish. The time of the stoppage was 2:42.
Stephens came out with his usual aggression, throwing hard punches and a crisp body kick at Kattar. He followed with a hard right hand, which aded up to a strong start for “Lil’ Heathen.” Kattar struggled to get into a groove, but landed some good leg kicks in between Stephens’ attacks. Both men settled into the fight, but Stephens was clearly leading the dance in the first round, although Kattar recovered some early lost ground.
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Both men showed visible damage from leg kicks going into the second round, and they started the frame by battering each other there some more. Stephens seemed to have the worse of it, but it didn’t stop him from pushing forward. Kattar gained confidence, though, and started to find his range a couple minutes into the round. He tagged Stephens with hooks and uppercuts, although Stephens showed his veteran savvy and didn’t allow himself to be flustered. He got too comfortable, though, because Kattar landed a massive right elbow that dropped Stephens. He swarmed with some punches, busting Stephens open with another elbow and forcing the fight to be called off at the 2:42 mark of Round 2.
“I’ve been learning as I’ve been going and I’ve been doing it with tough fights,” Kattar said in his post-fight interview with Joe Rogan. “I’m happy to be here and I feel like I’m just scratching these surface and there featherweights are in big trouble when I put it all together.”
The catchweight bout (Stephens missed the featherweight limit) was part of the UFC 249 main card at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Fla. It aired on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN/ESPN+ and early prelims on UFC Fight Pass/ESPN+.
Up-to-the-minute UFC 249 results include:
- Calvin Kattar def. Jeremy Stephens via TKO (strikes) – Round 2, 2:42
- Greg Hardy def. Yorgan De Castro via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Anthony Pettis def. Donald Cerrone via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Aleksei Oleinik def. Fabricio Werdum via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)
- Carla Esparza def. Michelle Waterson via split decision (27-30, 29-28, 30-27)
- Vicente Luque def. Niko Price via TKO (doctor’s stoppage) – Round 3, 3:37
- Bryce Mitchell def. Charles Rosa via unanimous decision (30-25, 30-25, 30-24)
- Ryan Spann def. Sam Alvey via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)