Calvin Kattar and Josh Emmett highlight the UFC on ESPN 37 this Saturday night. The two featherweights clash to decide which guy goes up the ladder and possibly receives the opportunity to reach the title eliminator fight or even maybe, challenge the champion. Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway meet at the UFC 276, and the winner of the event in Austin may meet the better from the championship bout.
Preview
Calvin Kattar
Kattar had a fight against Max Holloway in January 2021, which was the title eliminator at the time. The Boston Finisher wasn’t up to the task of challenging one of the most decorated fighters in the UFC and the former champion, and Holloway easily won that battle via unanimous decision.
Though that motivated Kattar, who was absent from the octagon for exactly one year, and he came back even better, outperforming Giga Chikadze in January this year. This was his 23rd win, with five losses. Kattar holds triumphs over Dan Ige, Jeremy Stephens, Ricardo Lamas, Shane Burgos, Andre Fili, etc.
He is an extremely dangerous boxer, one of the best in the division, showing that on numerous occasions. Kattar’s cardio is one of his biggest plusses, and 10 of his wins came following a decision. His last three bouts were the main events, and in all three, he went to the distance throughout the championship rounds. Kattar’s game on the ground isn’t impressive, and he avoids going down to the mat.
Emmett
The 37-year-old has 17 wins and only two losses in his career. The last one was in February 2018 against the above-mentioned Jeremy Stephens via KO, and the one before that was a split decision to Desmond Green at the UFC 210. Emmett has been in the organization for a long time but only recently came up on the surface.
After losing to Stephens, he went on to win the next four bouts. At first, he knocked out Michael Johnson and Mirsad Bektics, and after that defeated Shane Burgos and Dan Ige following unanimous decisions. These wins were, in fact, the reason why he rose to No.7 in the division and why he earned a chance to be at one main event.
Emmett is a solid wrestler and a decent stand-up fighter, though he has only two wins via submission. Six came after a knockout and nine following a decision. His cardio is problematic because it was never tested in the championship rounds, and that is the area he never experienced in the UFC.
Prediction
From what we saw in the respective histories of these two guys, Kattar has an obvious advantage. He is a better fighter, and despite being younger, more experienced than Emmett. He fought Holloway, while on the other side, this will be Emmett’s biggest challenge so far. Needless to say that for Kattar, this will be the fourth consecutive main event, which has to be respected. Also, Kattar will have a two-inch reach advantage, which is a massive plus for him and his boxing knowledge.
We expect him to win this battle, probably finishing the rival somewhere in the fourth or fifth round. After analyzing the overall situation, Calvin Kattar is at a completely different level than Josh Emmett and his victory shouldn’t be questioned.
Pick: Kattar wins 2/5 at BetXchange
