Hey everyone, decided to double up on posts today with a shorter one. I just saw the news about the rumored main event for the first UFC card of 2022. Reports are out that Calvin Kattar will be making his return to the octagon against fellow featherweight contender Giga Chikadze in January. I suggested the Giga could get the next shot at Volkanovski's title in my post about Volkanovski's future shortly after his win over Brian Ortega, but clearly the UFC has other plans for both Volkanovski and Giga. I'll get more into this fight when we get closer to the event, but my initial reaction to this news was "man, Kattar just can't get a break." I almost feel a little bad for him to be honest. I know MMA in general and the UFC more specifically doesn't give "tune up fights" the way boxing has and still does, but if there was ever a time for one, wouldn't it have been for Kattar in this situation? Kattar's last appearance came this past January in what would be arguably the best performance of Max Holloway's career. In that fight, Kattar was on the receiving end of what I think is probably the worst beating I've seen a fighter take in recent memory. That's not to say there haven't been some brutal knockouts recently, Curtis Blaydes being knocked out cold by Derrick Lewis comes to mind, but even then it is still just one shot (two follow up shots on the ground in the case of Blaydes) that puts an end to the fighter's night. In the case of Kattar vs Holloway, Kattar was taking shot after shot to the face for the full 25 minutes and honestly, the fight could have been stopped at almost any point after the 3rd round. I recall there being a lot of talk in the aftermath of that fight suggesting that Kattar's corner should have stepped in and stopped the fight after the 4th round after it was clear that Kattar was just surviving and his chances of winning were all but over. If taking more damage in a single fight this year than anyone wasn't enough of a reason for a tune up fight or even a slight step down in competition, then what about the fact that by the time this fight happens, Kattar will have not fought in approximately a year?
Kattar wasn't beaten up so badly that he had to take an entire year off and his reward for that is arguably the third toughest fight in the division behind champion Alexander Volkanovski and former champion Max Holloway. I say that with no disrespect to Brian Ortega or Chan Sung Jung, I just think Giga is that good. Given the immense amount of damage he took and the long lay off, I think a step down for Kattar would have made so much sense and given him a chance to get his footing under him a little bit. I'm not suggesting he fight someone who's 0-1 in the UFC or something, just not someone on a meteoric rise who was a candidate for the next title shot like Giga is. I think Edson Barboza would have been a much better opponent for Kattar's return. Barboza is also coming off of a loss and with no disrespect to Barboza, he is a step down from the truly elite of the division like Max. I think that fight would have been viewed pretty evenly and been a good win that would put them right back into contention in the featherweight division (probably a ranking in the top 6). What do you guys think about all of this? Do you think this is a really tough draw for Kattar after the long layoff? Is there an opponent you would have rather seen for him? I didn't touch on it here, but do you think this really helps Giga at all?
Comments
Post a Comment