Max Holloway will get back on the proverbial horse after a failed bid to reclaim the Ultimate Fighting Championship featherweight crown when he meets Calvin Kattar in the UFC on ABC 1 headliner this Saturday at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
Holloway enters the cage on the heels of back-to-back decision losses to reigning featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski. The Gracie Technics export has not competed since he dropped a split verdict to Volkanovski at UFC 251 on July 11. Kattar, meanwhile, has momentum on his side, having posted wins in four of his past five appearances. He last fought at UFC on ESPN 13, where he took a unanimous decision from Dan Ige in an entertaining five-round main event.
As Holloway and Kattar approach their high-stakes showdown on network television, a look at some of the numbers that have accompanied them to this point:
29: Years of age for Holloway, who was born in Honolulu on Dec. 4, 1991. The top five movies at the domestic box office at the time were “The Addams Family,” “My Girl,” “Beauty and the Beast,” “Cape Fear” and “For The Boys.”
2,173: Significant strikes landed by Holloway, placing him first on the UFC’s all-time list. Joanna Jedrzejczyk (1,711), Donald Cerrone (1,710) and Frankie Edgar (1,703) are the only other fighters who have landed at least 1,700 such strikes.
10: Holloway wins by knockout or technical knockout, accounting for 48% of his career total. His list of victims includes Anthony Pettis, Brian Ortega and Jose Aldo (twice). Holloway has two other victories by submission, as he dismissed both Andre Fili and Cub Swanson with guillotine chokes.
8: Post-fight bonuses banked by Holloway in his 23 appearances under the UFC banner. He has been recognized for “Performance of the Night” four times, “Fight of the Night” three times and “Knockout of the Night” once, resulting in $400,000 of additional income.
.813: Cumulative winning percentage between the four men—Volkanovski (twice), Dustin Poirier, Conor McGregor and Dennis Bermudez—who have managed to defeat Holloway. They own a combined record of 87-20.
32: Years of age for Kattar. He was born on March 26, 1988 in Methuen, Massachusetts—a city of some 47,000 people in the northeast corner of The Bay State, roughly 25 miles from Boston.
3: Sub-minute finishes to Kattar’s credit. He struck Bob Pupa into submission 51 seconds into their Combat Zone 24 pairing on Oct. 13, 2007, wiped out Kevin Roddy with punches 47 seconds into their Combat Zone 26 encounter on Sept. 26, 2008 and disposed of Jonathan Bermudez with punches 29 seconds into their Combat Zone 27 confrontation on Feb. 6, 2009.
11: Kattar victories by knockout or technical knockout, providing him with half of his career total. Jeremy Stephens, Ricardo Lamas, Chris Fishgold and Shane Burgos are among the notable opponents he has victimized. Kattar owns two other wins by submission, as he tapped Bobby Diaz with a triangle choke at World Championship Fighting 5 in 2008 and dispatched Rodrigo Almeida with a guillotine choke at World Championship Fighting 7 in 2009.
105: Significant strikes landed by Kattar in his unanimous decision over Ige. It set a personal-best in the category, surpassing his previous high of 85.
1: Submission defeat on the Kattar resume. He tapped to a rear-naked choke from James Jones in his fourth professional appearance at EliteXC “Primetime” in May 2008. It remains the only stoppage loss of his 26-fight career.