Calvin Kattar is ready for 'the best Max Holloway there is'

No. 6-ranked UFC featherweight Calvin Kattar says he won't underestimate Max Holloway's abilities, despite the former champion's losing streak heading into their Jan. 16 bout at UFC on ABC 1.

Video Transcript

KEVIN IOLE: Hey, folks. I am Kevin Iole, and MMA returns on January 16 with an unbelievable main event on ABC. So you can watch this one. You don't need cable. You don't need anything. It is free.

And in the main event, it's going to be Max Holloway against my next guest, Calvin Kattar. Calvin, big fight for you. How are you doing, pal?

CALVIN KATTAR: I'm doing great, thanks. Yeah, I'm excited about this one, mainly because any time I tell my family that's over the age of, like, 30, tell them how to tune in and watch the fight on ESPN+, streaming it, it's just been tough. But ABC, they all understand, so pretty easy this time around.

KEVIN IOLE: We're going to have a big Boston contingent watching this one, no doubt about that. You're in an interesting spot. You have beaten a ton of great guys in the featherweight division, but that division is loaded. You're ranked sixth there. You're fighting the number-one contender in Holloway.

But I wonder, even if you win over Holloway, do you think you will get a title shot by the end of 2021, given where the rankings are?

CALVIN KATTAR: Who, knows man, how the rankings are and who's next. I try to focus on what I can control, and that's just being ready, being the best Calvin Kattar when I step in there against Max Holloway come January 16.

KEVIN IOLE: I think this fight has to be fireworks. I mean, looking at the style of Max, looking at the style of yourself, I think it has to be a fireworks thing. A lot of people think it's going to be a stand-up fight.

You have a 3-inch reach advantage on him. By the same [INAUDIBLE], do you think that makes a difference where you can catch him with that jab? Because I know you everything you throw is hard.

CALVIN KATTAR: Yeah, I think everything adds up. And a true champion can adjust to anything that happens in there. So even if it doesn't go the way we expect, real time, you've got to be able to make adjustments and overcome and adapt to anything. So we're ready for five rounds against the best Max Holloway there is, and no matter how he wants to do it.

KEVIN IOLE: He's entering the fight on a losing streak. He lost back back-to-back fights to Volkanovski, although I think it's not hard to conceive of the fact that you could say he won both of those fights, especially the one on Fight Island. They were both really close fights. How did you see those, and did you think that you saw any decline in Holloway, say from his peak when he was riding high as the champ?

CALVIN KATTAR: I wouldn't say decline. He's fighting the best guys in the world. [BLEEP] happens, 4-ounce gloves. They were, like you said, closely contested fights, and he was in a lot of them definitely to the end of the bell. He wasn't finished.

So definitely, it's Max Holloway. You're going to get what you're going to get. It's going to be an exciting fight. And being the first fight on national television and ABC, I think that this one is definitely going to deliver for the fans, and I'm excited to be a part of it.

KEVIN IOLE: The one thing I like-- and I don't know if you do have a chip on your shoulder, but you always seem like you fight with a chip on your shoulder when you're out there. And I was looking at your Instagram the other day, and I saw you had posted a photo of yourself. And I want to read what you wrote for people who don't follow you.

You said, he surely came to learn people came to watch you fail, but he's had to make a name and a fool out of them all. Did I read that correctly? I mean, are you out there saying, hey, you know what, people still don't believe in me after all of these wins I've had, after Jeremy Stephens, Dan Ige, Ricardo Lamas, 600-- do you think people still aren't buying into Calvin Kattar as an elite featherweight?

CALVIN KATTAR: Yeah, I think-- and it was, people come to watch you fall. And I think that's true. A lot of these guys that tune in, they either overlook me, or they want to see me fall. And even if that's not the case, that's the mentality I like to go in there with, chip on my shoulder, like you said, and prove the doubters wrong and my supporters right.

I'm just chasing the life on the other side of win over Max Holloway, to afford my-- and not only myself, but my family, my team, just better living conditions, more money, more influence, more everything. And like I say, I mean, we joke, even the same bottle the water will taste better off a win than off a loss.

So I just want the finer things over a win over Max Holloway. And I get the opportunity to prove that I am one of the best in the division, and I'm just excited about the opportunity. I'm grateful. Especially like you said, it's been a crazy year, 2020, and we haven't skipped a beat. So I'm just grateful to be in the position I'm in right now.

KEVIN IOLE: To steal a line from the former heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier, there's levels to this. And it's true, in terms of the payday. As you've moved up the ranks, have you noticed the things like, are you able to afford better training partners, and do you get things that maybe you couldn't afford before when you were on your way up and were just making a couple of grand a fight?

CALVIN KATTAR: Yeah, that's it. I've been a pro fighter my whole life, for the last decade. And I'm ready for back pay for my career. I'm out here trying to make enough money to-- we don't get a retirement plan in this business, in this game. So you've got to strike while the iron is hot and be smart with your money when you get it.

And it's a good checkpoint, like I said, to be at this point, nearing six figures, things like that, and just to be able to hopefully have know just a safety net in the back end, because you go all in, in this sport. You can't really have a safety net along the way. So when you strike while the iron is hot, it's important to make smart, sound investments.

And I'm just happy to be, like I said, in the position I am with the opportunity I have in front of me. I know a lot of fighters that would be just dying to get into the UFC, especially right now. The whole local scenes are all at a standstill, and I'm in the UFC right now competing with the best organization in the world. And I'm just grateful, man. And I have a big opportunity, big test in me, in about a week and a half, and I couldn't be more excited.

KEVIN IOLE: You have been in there with so many good guys that you wonder, what's the toll it takes on your body? And do you feel like you still have a long time in this game, given how many tough fights you've had? Because I was going to say, since you came to the UFC, but even before that, you fought a lot of tough guys. Has that taken a physical toll on you, and has it shortened what you thought the end of your career might be?

CALVIN KATTAR: If anything, I feel like-- definitely I've been in the game a long time, but I feel like now, more than ever. I've been training smarter. And it's been about longevity. I've been training the right way with the right people.

So if anything, I feel like I'm just scratching the surface, and I can go longer than I thought possible, because of the people around me right now. I've got a great team. I'm confident, and we put it together. And like I said, I feel confident stepping in there with the best guys in the world, knowing that I have the right team around me.

KEVIN IOLE: You know, in a way you remind me of Dan Ige from this standpoint. I mean, Dan Ige was a small guy that a lot of people didn't give credit to. And he got a lot of big wins and got off up a fight with-- got himself in the rankings, got a big fight with you.

And you seem the same way. You just have that confidence, in that you're almost telling yourself, I am good enough to do this. I am good enough. And how much can that will and that belief in yourself carry you beyond just what your physical talent is when you truly believe, and your coaches truly believe in what your ability is?

CALVIN KATTAR: Yeah, when you step in, that stuff comes down, pays big dividends, how much you want it, how much you're willing to do to get it. And as you see in my fights, like I said, I fight like these guys owe me that show money, because that's how bad I want it.

I'm chasing that win money. I'm chasing the life on the other side of the W. And I didn't come this far to stop here. I've got big goals, I've got big dreams, and Max Holloway's definitely a checkpoint on the way to reaching my goals.

KEVIN IOLE: You have fought two fights since the pandemic began, so you're an experienced guy at this now. This is your second fight on Fight Island. So does it make it easier this time around, and do you think that that will help make it better?

You had unknowns before, first when you went to Jacksonville, because it was the first time that UFC had come back since the pandemic, the second time when you went to Fight Island, fighting over in the Middle East. Now there's no unknowns for you. Does that make it better, or do you feel like that will lead to any noticeable improvement in your performance?

CALVIN KATTAR: Yeah, anytime you can do something the second time, you feel like you're more able to do it, that you can do it better or things like that. But an octagon's an octagon, no matter where you put it. And we're training every day. We couldn't be more ready for the opportunity. And Max Holloway definitely poses a lot of threats, but at the same time, he's got to deal with me when he steps in there, and he's going to have his hands full.

KEVIN IOLE: I lived in New England for about 10 years. I know how tough those folks are up there. So I never underestimate you. I know there's some badass people in the New England area. But let's break this down. I mean, what is it you think-- how do you think Max will attack you, and what are the key points for you in order to be successful?

CALVIN KATTAR: I think Max a lot of times steps in there and poses well, puts pressure on guys. And for me, it's just not being broken, not getting bullied around, standing my ground, and letting him know that he's in for a long night. And I'm prepared to do that.

KEVIN IOLE: Do you feel like you have to back him up-- if he's kind of fighting downhill and coming towards you, as he gets some momentum, do you have to kind of blunt like Volkanovski was able to do at times, kick them and force them to stop coming-- rolling forward like he did?

CALVIN KATTAR: There's a lot of ways to do it. You've just got to be able to adjust, real time, with what he brings to the table. And I feel like I couldn't be more prepared. So however he decides to come at it, he's going to have to deal with the things that we're trying to do to him.

And he's going to have to adjust to me, rather than me adjust to him. That's the way I see it going. And if things get a little sticky, then, like I said, I've got a good team around me, we can adjust real time. And either way, I just see myself get my hand raised at the end of the night.

KEVIN IOLE: That is one of the best fighters in the world, ladies and gentlemen, Calvin Kattar on January 16 on ABC. For free, you can see him fight Max Holloway in the main event of UFC on ABC1.

Calvin, thanks so much, buddy. I wish you all the best of luck.

CALVIN KATTAR: Thank you. Take advantage while you can. The pay-per-view is going to be expensive in 2021, so tune in and get your money's worth.

KEVIN IOLE: Here's a guy always thinking. Calvin Kattar, everybody.

CALVIN KATTAR: Thank you.