On Wednesday, Calvin Kattar shared his thoughts on how his upcoming UFC Fight Night bout with Josh Emmett might play out.
“Either one of us gets it done early and make it look easy, or it’s gonna be a five-round banger,” he said.
With two of the best strikers in the featherweight division facing off Saturday in Austin, Texas, the prospect of a “banger” is always in play. Add to that the stakes of the winner being springboarded into contender status for Alexander Volkanovski‘s belt, and both fighters won’t be holding back.
Kattar has won three of his past four matches and comes in on a two-match Fight of the Night streak with a win over Giga Chikadze and a loss to former featherweight champion Max Holloway.
Emmett comes into Austin riding a four-fight winning streak, with his most recent victory coming against Dan Ige at UFC 269. Emmett is reminding the MMA world that he is one of the best at 145 pounds when healthy, as he’s fully recovered from tearing ligaments in his left knee.
Follow along as Brett Okamoto recaps the action from Austin, or watch the fights on ESPN or ESPN+.
Fight in progress
UFC Fight Night results
Featherweight: Ricardo Ramos (16-4, 7-3 UFC) def. Danny Chavez (11-5-1, 1-2-1 UFC) by technical knockout
Ramos wasted little time against Chavez with a first-round spinning elbow knockout. It’s Ramos’ first 1st-round knockout since April 2015 and his fourth career knockout in his 16 career wins. There have been just five spinning elbow knockouts in UFC history, and Ramos now has two of them.
Women’s Strawweight: Maria Oliveira (13-5, 1-2 UFC) def. Gloria de Paula (6-5, 2-3 UFC) by split decision (Watch on ESPN+)
Oliveira and de Paula put on a three-round showcase with “Spider Girl” emerging victorious as two of the three judges leaned her way for the decision. Oliveira, who entered as a +210 underdog, earned her first win in the UFC after losing in her debut to Tabatha Ricci.
Related: How ‘the best party crasher ever’ Maria Oliveira became friends with pop star Anitta
Bantamweight: Cody Stamann (20-5-1, 6-4-1 UFC) def. Eddie Wineland (24-16-1, 11-12 UFC) by technical knockout (Watch on ESPN+)
It took Stamann just 59 seconds to knock out Wineland on Saturday with an impressive first-round performance. Stamann snapped a three-fight losing streak with the victory, and earned his first win by finish in the UFC.
Middleweight: Phil Hawes (12-3, 5-2 UFC) def. Deron Winn (7-3, 2-3 UFC) by technical knockout (Watch on ESPN+)
Hawes put on an absolute show in Austin as he finished Winn with a second-round TKO. Hawes has now won eight of his past nine, and found success with a bevy of technical strikes from distance and elbows on the inside. Hawes outlanded Winn by 86 strikes (118-32) on Saturday, the fourth-most in UFC middleweight history.
Middleweight: Roman Dolidze (10-1, 4-1 UFC) def. Kyle Daukaus (11-3 1 NC, 3-3 1 NC UFC) by technical knockout (Watch on ESPN+)
Dolidze opened the card in style with a first-round knockout over Daukaus. Dolidze was a +210 underdog coming to win with +800 odds to win by knockout according to Caesars Sportsbook. Six of his eight career finishes have come via first-round knockout.
Still to come:
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Featherweight: Calvin Kattar (23-5, 7-3 UFC, -230) vs. Josh Emmett (17-2, 8-2 UFC, +190)
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Welterweight: Tim Means (32-12-1 1 NC, 14-9 UFC 1 NC, +230) vs. Kevin Holland (22-7 1 NC, 10-4 1 NC UFC, -280)
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Middleweight: Joaquin Buckley (14-4, 4-2 UFC, +190) vs. Albert Duraev (15-3, 2-0 UFC, -230)
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Lightweight: Damir Ismagulov (23-1, 4-0 UFC, -170) vs. Guram Kutateladze (12-2, 1-0 UFC, +145)
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Middleweight: Julian Marquez (9-2, 4-1 UFC, +160) vs. Gregory Rodrigues (11-4, 2-2 UFC, -190)
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Bantamweight: Adrian Yanez (15-3, 5-0 UFC, -310) vs. Tony Kelley (8-2, 2-1 UFC, +250)
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Women’s Flyweight: Jasmine Jasudavicius (7-1, 2-0 UFC, -240) vs. Natalia Silva (12-5-1, 0-0 UFC, +200)