Calvin Kattar sends message to Alexander Volkanovski
Streaking featherweight contender Calvin Kattar has a message for UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski.
Last night, in the main event of UFC on ESPN 13, Kattar picked up an impressive decision win over fellow contender Dan Ige. With the win, he built on the momentum of a thrilling knockout defeat of Jeremy Stephens, and further separated himself from a decision loss to red-hot contender Zabit Magomedsharipov.
With two big wins behind him, Kattar is looking more and more like a future title challenger. He wants the division’s reigning champion, Volkanovski, to know that.
Kattar sent a message to Volkanovski after his win over Ige.
“I mean if I make my case, I don’t got to do it with my mouth,” Kattar said at the UFC on ESPN 13 post fight press conference (h/t MMA Fighting). “I do it in the cage. Like all these other guys, they all talk. Where I’m from, we don’t really talk about stuff too much. You go out and prove it. You earn it. In here, that’s not really the business model, so it’s a little bit of an adjustment for me. I go out, I fight, and I try to earn every opportunity in front of me.
“The champ should see that. He’s saying he wants contenders. You’re not going to find one more ready than myself.”
As Kattar suggests, Volkanovski has placed importance on defending his title against the featherweight division’s top contenders, rather than chasing super fighters as other champions have attempted to do.
“My eyes are on my division,” Volkanovski said ahead of his UFC 251 win over Max Holloway. “I want to defend my belt against No. 1 contenders. We’ve got a stacked division….You got all these guys fighting and whoever has an impressive performance is gonna be the No. 1 contender.
“As I’ve said from Day 1, I don’t want to put my division on hold. I want to fight No. 1 contenders. For me to be GOAT of this division, you need to take out No. 1 contenders.”
Do you think we’ll see Calvin Kattar and Alexander Volkanovski fight in the future?
Topics:
Alex Volkanovski Calvin Kattar UFC