The UFC is giving fans a tasty featherweight fight between two top contenders early in 2021.
The promotion confirmed on Tuesday afternoon that former champion Max Holloway (21-6) will face Calvin Kattar (22-4) in the main event of the UFC Fight Night show scheduled for Jan. 16.
The Blessed Express returns!
— UFC (@ufc) November 17, 2020
@BlessedMMA meets @CalvinKattar in the main event of Jan 16! pic.twitter.com/1x2aZaQLF1
ESPN's Marc Raimondi is reporting the event is likely to take place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, which has routinely hosted shows without paying fans throughout the coronavirus pandemic.
This will be the first time that Holloway, 28, will fight without a championship on the line since Dec. 2016. The No. 1-ranked featherweight successfully defended that title three times but was dethroned by Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 245 last December.
Volkanovski defeated Holloway a second time at UFC 251 in July but under much more controversial circumstances. A majority of journalists surveyed by MMA Decisions scored the contest in favor of Holloway.
Kattar, No. 6 in the division, notched victories over Jeremy Stephens and Dan Ige this year, and the 32-year-old won four of his last five bouts.
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