The UFC kicks off in 2021 on Saturday.
UFC on ABC 1 marks the return of the promotion to network television after a two-year absence from the departure of its previous broadcast partner FOX Sports. It is the first of three events in the last eight days in Abu Dhabi. And the first major UFC event of 2021 looks like a potential paper barnburner as former featherweight UFC champion Max Holloway takes on fast-growing Boston Calvin Kattar in a five-round break.
The UFC on ABC 1 takes place on Saturday at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. The main book is broadcast on ABC and is broadcast on ESPN + following the predecessors on ESPN +.
Without further ado, then here are five burning questions the UFC should answer on ABC 1.
How will Max Holloway react to a key crossroads?
Max Holloway
Holloway (21-6 MMA, 17-6 UFC) has lost three of the last four fights, but not all 1-3 stretches are created equal.
At UFC 236, Holloway, as the featherweight champion, gained weight and endured five rounds before losing a decision to Dustin Poirier in an intermediate title fight. At UFC 240, he defeated Frankie Edgar in a title defense. At UFC 245, he suffered a clear loss of Alexander Volkanovski by a unanimous decision. At UFC 251, Volkanovski won an extremely controversial split decision, as many – including this reporter – felt that Holloway had won the fight.
A 1-3 in these conditions, fighting with the best competition in the world, overcoming the distance in each fight and, without a doubt, being robbed in one, is completely different from a fighter who loses three out of four and seems to -It would be over.
But this does not yet alleviate the cold facts of the situation: Volkanovski is still the champion; Holloway will have a long way to go as long as this is the case, and the competition is not getting any easier. Kattar (22-4 MMA, 6-2 UFC) is on a tear and, as such, Holloway’s first untitled fight in 2016 should serve as a measure if he gets another shot.
Can Calvin Kattar make his most definitive statement?
It may seem that Kattar is a future prospect who has burst onto the scene in recent years. After all, we are only three and a half years away from his UFC debut, when he scored what was then considered an angry victory over Andre Fili at UFC 214.
But in reality, this was a long grinding climb for Kattar. This week, the chat appeared on Twitter pointing out that Kattar competed under the card of the legendary Elite XC event in June 2008 on CBS, which was titled by the late Kimbo Slice vs. James Thompson.
The Bostonian has been fighting professionally since 2007, three years before Holloway made his debut.
Some are put on the fast track. Some come the hard way. Kattar’s career culminates at the right time, with enough experience to see and do everything, while still young enough, at 32, to be at the forefront of his physical game.
Twelve years later, he gets the chance to fight a world-class competitor like Holloway. And with that, the chance to prove that we should have been more careful from the beginning.
Matt Brown Vs. Carlos Condit comes much later. So what?
Carlos Condit Vs. Matt Brown
Maybe you came during Ronda Rousey’s ascent and you don’t know what Matt Brown was like in his heyday.
Or maybe you started watching while Carlos Condit was in a five-fight losing streak and wondered what “The Natural Born Killer” was all about.
If you missed their first, well, you missed. Condit (31-13 MMA, 8-9 UFC) was a championship fighter who never lost his skill for interesting bloodbaths along the way. Brown (22-17 MMA, 15-11 UFC) never rose to the level of Condit’s title, but eventually gained some of his talent and completed it with a pure heart, culminating in a series of seven-fight UFC victories. 2012- 14.
Along the way, Brown vs. Condit was sustained as a dream fight with full action. It was scheduled twice and fell twice.
Now it’s finally here. Brown has just turned 40. Condit will be 37 in April. Both dealt with injuries. None of them will make another race for a title. But Condit will win, and Brown has won two out of three. Condit is in the final battle of his UFC deal, and Brown has suggested that this could be his last tango, so they both have a lot of motivation.
Maybe this is not the fight it could have been a decade ago, but let’s appreciate that this fight is finally here and we can sit back and enjoy.
Can Santiago Ponzinibbio take his place?
It was both a declarative victory and the culmination of a long journey: Santiago Ponzinibbio eliminated Neil Magny in the fourth round of the UFC Buenos Aires main event, a memorable moment in his hometown, his seventh consecutive victory, the second his “Performance of the Night” in three fights and a definitive statement that he has reached the top of the welterweight division.
That fight took place in November 2018 and was the last one I saw about Ponzinibbio (27-3 MMA, 9-2 UFC) so far this week. Injuries and health problems, such as staph infection, left him immediately after his greatest moment, and the division changed quite a bit in his absence.
Will the rust of the ring be prevented or can Ponzinibbio pick up where it left off? It’s really as simple as the Argentine, who faces a solid shortstop replacement in Li Jinliang (17-6 MMA, 9-4 UFC) on the main book of the evening.
Can Joaquin Buckley continue to push?
Look, unless Joaquin Buckley becomes the next-generation version of a prime Anderson Silva, it’s unlikely we’ll see anything approaching his all-time big knockout on Impa Kasanganay.
But Buckley seems to be doing something more important in the long run: establishing that he is about to become a legitimate competitor in the middle division.
Buckley (12-3 MMA, 2-1 UFC) returned from his October viral peak and battled Jordan Wright a month later at UFC 255 and this time showed calm and patience in Wright’s demeanor and in the use of the old school grounds. to win a TKO in the second round.
So Buckley showed that he could do it both brilliantly and bloodily. Now he is back for the third fight in three months, taking Alessio Di Chirico (12-5 MMA, 3-5 UFC). This may not be the battle that throws him to the top of the division, but three wins in three months would be a great way to show that you are eager to prove that you are ready to climb that ladder and climb it quickly.