Max Holloway will go back to work in the featherweight division with a main event matchup against fellow top contender Calvin Kattar in January.
UFC official today announced Holloway (21-6 MMA, 17-6 UFC) vs. Kattar (22-4 MMA, 6-2 UFC) is official to headline its UFC Fight Night event on Jan. 16, though details about location, venue and broadcast plans have not been announced.
The fight will be the first non-title contest for Holloway, No. 2 in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie MMA featherweight rankings, in years. After lengthy stint with the belt, he dropped consecutive championship contests to Alexander Volkanovski, with both being somewhat controversial decisions. There was briefly talk of doing a third fight, but it didn’t materialize.
The gave No. 7-ranked Kattar an opening to get the matchup on the heels of a main event win over Dan Ige in July on “Fight Island.” Prior to that, he knocked out Jeremy Stephens.
The latest lineup for UFC’s Jan. 16 event includes:
- Max Holloway vs. Calvin Kattar
- Brian Kelleher vs. Ricky Simon
- Jacob Kilburn vs. Austin Lingo
- Tim Elliott vs. Jordan Espinosa
- Carlos Felipe vs. Justin Tafa
