Calvin Kattar is still suffering from the beating he took against Max Holloway in January 2021
UFC featherweight Calvin Kattar has still not fully recovered from the damage he sustained in the Max Holloway fight in January 2021.
During an interview with James Lynch, Rob Font shed light on how his team is helping Calvin Kattar recover from the damage. Font revealed that although Kattar is back in the gym (New England Cartel) the team has kept him away from hard training. The primary focus is to allow Kattar's body to completely recover before he can think about a comeback. Font revealed that apart from the damage sustained in the Max Holloway fight, Calvin Kattar needed to take the time off to recover after a busy year. Kattar competed five times in the UFC from June 2019 to January 2021, averaging one fight almost every three months.
"He's in and out. He's still going through the concussion protocol. He's not concussed but they're just babying him right now. A lot of hand-eye coordination things, balance drills and stuff like that. Boring non-contact type stuff. He's been holding pads for me... We're trying to keep him out of the gym."
"He's getting anxious. He's getting to a point where he wants to get moving around more... We're trying to baby him like, 'listen, you had a lot of big fights, busy year. You just take some time off and just hang out.' But it's hard... Especially coming off a loss, you wanna get back, you wanna fix everything..." Rob Font told James Lynch.
What happened when Calvin Kattar fought Max Holloway?
No. 7 ranked UFC featherweight Calvin Kattar (22-5 MMA, 6-3 UFC) fought former champion, Max Holloway, in the headliner of UFC on ABC 1 on January 16, 2021. After the first two rounds, the fight quickly turned into the Max Holloway show. The former champ dominated Calvin Kattar in all aspects of the game and secured a 50-43, 50-43, and 50-42 unanimous decision win on the judges' scorecards.
Max Holloway outstruck Calvin Kattar 445 to 133 in terms of significant strikes that landed and set the UFC record for most significant strikes landed on a single opponent. The bout was close to getting stopped on several occasions. However, Kattar refused to back down and made it to the final bell.
Kattar received a lot of appreciation for displaying heart and toughness. It is debatable, though, if toughness is an attribute that should be put on display. Many fighters in UFC history have endured career-altering beatings that could have been avoided. As impressive as it seems to survive the fights that have already been lost, it is never a good proposition to ensure performance longevity.