UFC on ABC: Holloway vs Kattar Recap
Alessio di Chirico’s stunned with his head-kick KO, The Natural Born Killer announced his return and Blessed put on a masterclass; The Ultimate Fighting Championship’s inaugural card on 2021 delivered. Here’s a recap of how the night played out.
Alessio di Chirico def. Joaquin Buckley by KO (head kick).
Going into this bout, the sheer number of times that Joaquin Buckley’s spinning head kick knockout of Impa Kasanganay in October 2020 was seen was uncountable. His acrobatic finish, pirouetting in the air and releasing the flat of his foot into his opponent’s chin to send an unconscious shell clattering to the canvas, was hailed by seasoned commentators such as Daniel Cormier and Michael Bisping as something out of a Jet Li film. While it was not wrong to award the 26-year-old ‘knockout of the year’ plaudits for that effort, his mettle was yet to be tested against any of the significant opponents that populate the Middleweight division. Understandably irritated that this narrative prevailed into his latest bout, even after beating Jordan Wright via second-round knockout post-Kassangany fight, Buckley took to the octagon as the betting favourite nevertheless. His rival, Alessio di Chirico, a Roman brawler with a 3–5 record in the UFC, seemed like the perfect match for an up-and-coming kid whose career was on a trajectory like Buckley’s. Both men seemed relaxed before the opening bell, enjoying the presence of the limited crowd who were admitted to the Etihad Arena, the first live attendees since UFC 248 just under a year prior. In the opening moments, the combatants felt one another out on the feet. Buckley looked relaxed and, perhaps, in control during the early stages. He stalked down di Chirico effectively, occupying the centre of the octagon and governing the distance with attempted leg kicks and punches despite being the smaller man. However, the Italian bided his time and, before long, noticed a tick in Buckley’s striking; before each right hand he was throwing, Joaquin would duck his head in anticipation of a cross from his opponent (see below).
However, this left him vulnerable, as di Chirico deduced, to head kicks. And indeed, 2 minutes and 10 seconds into the fight, Buckley changed levels again and this time was greeted by a lighting right leg from his rival that clipped his head, knocking him out cold. Alessio followed up with strikes on the ground and Jason Herzog stepped in to stop the fight. Poetically, it was a head kick that put him on the Middleweight radar and indeed one that sent Joaquin Buckley’s hype train off the rails. After the fight, Buckley showed humility saying that it ‘just [wasn’t] his time’ but vowing that he would return. For di Chirico, this was his moment to capitalise on Marvin Vettori’s success at Light Heavyweight and continue to build Italian MMA’s momentum in the big show.
Carlos Condit def. Matt Brown by Unanimous Decision (30–27 All Cards).
In 2007, ‘The Natural Born Killer’ Carlos Condit won the WEC Welterweight Championship. He would go on to defend the strap on three occasions before the UFC merged with World Extreme Cagefighting and Condit was put back to square one in terms of the title picture. He took it all in his stride however and won four straight with the promotion, seeing off the likes of Dan Hardy, Jake Ellenberger and Rory MacDonald. This, while winning the hearts of the fans, set him up for an interim title bout with Nick Diaz at UFC 143 which proved to be an absolute war, Condit sealing the unanimous decision when the dust settled. Also fighting on that card, albeit on the prelims, was one Matt Brown who picked up a win of his own that night, KO’ing Chris Cope in the second round. Condit would go on to lose the unification bout but that can be forgiven since the man he was standing across the cage from was Georges Saint-Pierre. From there, Condit’s record became a little gloomy. He fought for the title once more at UFC 195 losing against Robbie Lawler by split decision, once again showcasing his grit and will that made him a household name, but from there he went on a four-fight skid that spanned two years taking losses from Damien Maia, Neil Magny and Michael Chiesa. Now fearing that he may not be able to compete against the new generation of Welterweights, Carlos Condit stepped into a fight with Matt ‘The Immortal’ Brown after the two had been on a collision course for years. They were initially scheduled to meet at UFC on Fox: Johnson vs Benevidez 2 back in December 2013 but Brown pulled out of the bout with an undisclosed injury; they were booked against one another a second time in April 2018 but Brown was again unavailable, this time due to ACL troubles. Finally, though, they arrived opposite one another for the first fight card of 2021 and it seemed that Condit had not lost one ounce of appetite for the matchup. It was the be the battle between ‘The Natural Born Killer’ and ‘The Immortal’ and right out of the gates, Condit was putting the latter’s moniker to the test. He landed successfully and while Brown scored some takedowns, Condit foiled more attempts than he conceded. Condit scored a takedown of his own at the mid-point of Round 2 and while Matt Brown’s guard held, Condit was raining down punches from above for the remaining two minutes. While Brown spent a lot of time clinching with Condit against the fence in the third, he failed to achieve anything significant and, when he could take his opponent to the mat, Condit easily reversed the position or broke free altogether. After three rounds, the judges saw it unanimously for the former interim champ, a well-earned victory for a veteran who, if his post-fight call out of ‘anyone in the Welterweight division’ is anything to go by, may be gearing up for a career renaissance.
Max Holloway def. Calvin Kattar by Unanimous Decision (50–43, 50–43 and 50–42).
Max “Blessed” Holloway, former UFC Featherweight Champion and Pride of Hawaii has evolved. Going into this fight, the narrative was that Holloway was a volume striker but Kattar boxed clever and may be able to find angles to bother Max with if the number 1 contender over-committed. Some industry professionals including boxing guru Ray Longo picked Calvin to win but honestly, nobody could see what was to come. Holloway emerged in the first round and planted himself in the centre of the cage. Kattar flitted around him like an aimless fly attempting to land on a socially-distanced picnic and time after time Max batted him away as if determined to keep his rival two metres apart from himself. Holloway landed relentlessly as he went forward, finding gaps that Kattar didn’t even know he was creating, much like pundits thought he would do to the former champion. Max’s signature stance assisted in his ability to throw punches at a high volume; it is an orthodox stance technically speaking, although it would be more accurate to call it un-orthodox. He stands with an open chest, fists parallel but with his right hand raised a little above the left. This allows him to extend either limb towards his opponent without telegraphing it, meaning Kattar had no clue whether he would be hit with a right or a left next. Indeed, when he did guess correctly and blocked one of Holloway’s gloves, the other would dart from his floating stance, viper-like and stab him in elsewhere.
What this stance forces Kattar to do therefore is to echo it; he must now open his own chest to try and swat Holloway’s attacks but this also leaves his body open to those fatiguing liver strikes that can wear down any fighter (see below).
Kattar had no answers. The only compliment that can be given to his performance on this occasion was that he stayed in there and survived until the final bell but even that, it could be argued, was due to the mercy of Holloway. The final two rounds were the most brutal; Kattar took a beating with little reply, one judge even scored those rounds as back to back 10–8s. By the closing minutes, Calvin was wandering forward with a dazed gait, looking like someone ambling towards the shower having just got out of bed at five-am on a winter’s morning while Holloway taunted him and roared at the crowd who were chanting his name: “Holl-o-way! Holl-o-way!”. He was gracious to his opponent who, after all, is an excellent fighter simply made to look bad against the sheer talent of the Hawaiin who turned up in full force for this one. After the fight, he seemed like an irritated tiger, woken from slumber by being prodded with a stick, calling out anyone and everyone before asserting that he was on standby should Conor McGregor or Dustin Poirier pull out of the bout at UFC 257. Despite the statistically more dominant fight coming against Ortega, Holloway looked more in command here than he did there. This performance marks a turning point in the career of the featherweight legend and it looks like a turn towards future success.
Max Pleasance
