'UFC Champion-in-waiting' Calvin Kattar still uses lessons he learned from training with the Diaz brothers more than a decade ago
- The
UFC returns with its first show of 2021 on Saturday, at the newly-built Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. - The event is headlined by a featherweight match between the No.1-ranked contender Max Holloway, and the No.6 fighter
Calvin Kattar . - Kattar met Insider on
Fight Island earlier this week and told us about his family, the foundations of his career, and aspirations. - He said he trained with the world-famous Diaz brothers in Stockton, California, and continues to use life lessons learned from back then, today.
- Kattar is vowing to defeat Holloway, in style, this weekend, so he can force a UFC title shot against the current champion Alexander Volkanovski.
FIGHT ISLAND - When Calvin Kattar was 19 years old he packed his bags and traveled alone to Stockton, California.
The burgeoning fighter slept on the living room floor at the Brazilian jiu jitsu master Cesar Gracie's house.
He'd wake up early and get his nose bloodied three times a day training with Gracie's pupils like the world famous Diaz brothers, Nick and Nate.
He studied how the Super Six champion Andre Ward hit the heavy bag at an Oakland boxing gym, learned skills that would last a lifetime in professional mixed martial arts, and even considered leaving New England to move indefinitely to the West Coast.
Kattar, though, flew back East and stayed there for good when he found kindred combat spirits in his trainer and agent
Kattar, too, has been on his own tear.
The 32-year-old sliced Jeremy Stephens' nose open with a sickening elbow strike at UFC 249 in Jacksonville, Florida - the first pandemic era UFC event in May last year.
Two months later, he messed up Dan Ige's face in a brutal five-round war at the UFC's first series of Fight Island events in Abu Dhabi.
Now, he's thrust into the biggest fight of his life, headlining Saturday's UFC Fight Night event in a featherweight match against all-time great 145-pounder Max Holloway.
"I feel great," Holloway told Insider. "If you do it right, they're all the biggest fights of your life. The next one is always the biggest off a win, and when you win, the opportunities only get bigger."
Kattar fights one of the consensus featherweight GOATs in Holloway
Insider met Kattar earlier this week at the W Hotel in Abu Dhabi, under a mile from the Etihad Arena - a newly-built venue created with the UFC's requirements in mind.
Walking away from the W, we headed toward the $1 billion Yas Marina Circuit, reminiscing about white knuckle joyrides we'd both taken on the circuit earlier in the year, getting separate rides around the F1 race track in a pimped-out Chevrolet Camaro Drift Taxi.
Kattar made the most of his time on Fight Island in 2020, going on to beat Ige so badly he left his opponent with a swollen eye, countless cuts, and many bruises.
'The Boston Finisher' was so pleased with his handiwork he fist-bumped every reporter on press row as he made his victory walk away from the venue.
Kattar did not escape unscathed, though, as he hurt his fists and suffered a bloody nose. He took time off to recover, rehabilitate his injuries, and enjoy a vacation.
Months later, when he was wrapping his hands ahead of a training session at the UFC Performance Institute in Las Vegas, he called Insider on video to tell us he wanted to take on the No.1 fighter in the division.
He was ready for Holloway.
On Saturday, he'll finally be able to lay hands on him.
"Any time you have a chance to go against one of the GOATs in the featherweight division, the No.1 contender at this moment, it's a big opportunity and it's a moment I've been working my whole career for - fights like this," Kattar said.
"I think we all know what you're getting in for with a Holloway fight. He brings the action - high volume, high pace, and I feel like I do much of the same but I'm a little bit more calculated.
"It'll make for a fun and exciting match-up, particularly being broadcast on ABC and with fans at this show. It's a good check-point for me, and this is my time."
It's also a time for one of the hottest teams in MMA - the New England Cartel
Saturday night is a huge fight for Kattar's small but close-knit team - the New England Cartel.
It is run by Chartier, who acts as agent and trainer, putting his two top-ranked fighters, Kattar and Font, through their paces.
Chartier was recently named as one of the MMA coaches of the year in 2020 by MMA Junkie.
Victory this weekend could see him become an early front-runner for the same award this year.
"I've been watching Holloway as a fan all the way through the UFC, but then when Calvin got into the UFC I took a closer look at who the champ is - the benchmark - knowing, potentially, we're going to fight him one day," Chartier told Insider.
"I respect what he's done and he's one of the greatest of all-time to ever do it in the featherweight division, but Calvin earned the right to fight him and it's a good check-point for the team.
"It's also a good chance on ABC for Calvin to make himself a household name, and for him to get that title shot."
Though Kattar is in his early 30s, he continues to evolve as a striker.
His elbow strike knockout over Stephens was something new to his arsenal, and Chartier told Insider that fight fans can expect to see continued developments in his stand-up.
"I think you're going to see a well-rounded fighter [on Saturday]," he told us. "He can be tough when he needs to be tough, and he can be calculated when he needs to be calculated.
"He'll fight where it needs to go regardless of what Max brings, as he has an idea of how to handle it.
"I think you'll see new technical tricks as he keeps evolving as a striker. One year ago, he wasn't throwing elbows, then he knocked out Jeremy Stephens with an elbow.
"Every fight you see a bit more added to the tools, and the tools you have seen will be a little bit sharper."
It has been up to Font to mimic Holloway in camp, so nothing the former champion throws or does come fight night comes as a surprise.
But the sessions have been so brutal, Font will be happy to have a day off once the final bell sounds this weekend.
"I've been doing my best Max Holloway impersonation [in training camp] where I pick up the volume, pick up the pace, but now it's finally over," he smiled.
"I'm tired of getting hit. Calvin is a champion-in-waiting."
Kattar's family will be watching with interest back home in the US
Kattar's entire family will be watching the show on ABC, hoping to see their son, nephew, or brother climb the UFC rankings.
The only one who might not be watching is Kattar's father, Jamie, who gets so nervous on Calvin's fight nights that he's been known to vomit.
"He hasn't been to a show this year because of COVID, but I'm sure he's throwing up in a toilet back at the house," Kattar laughed.
Kattar calls his mother, Sandy, his superhero. She, too, will be excited to watch him perform but cannot do so alone, and so she flew to Texas to be with his sister.
"Because my brother's with me, and she can't stand to be alone for the fight, my mom flew to Texas.
"My sister moved [there] a couple of years back with her cowboy husband and she had to fly out there because she's got to cling on to someone.
"She's excited, everyone's excited - they all know it's a big opportunity and one that we're going to go out and do what we do."
What Kattar learned from the Diaz brothers
Though Kattar has never returned to train in California since his sessions with the Diaz brothers, he took a part of Stockton back with him to Massachusetts.
The level and intensity of the training, the schedule of a full-time fighter, and the lifestyle are traits he discovered in that time, but continues to use to this day.
"There's a lot of things I learned from them and that camp that just set the tone for a lot of the training that I do now - big picture things and the amount they train," Kattar said.
"I haven't trained with them since then, but that altered the way I train since coming back from Stockton.
"The level of training and amount of training they do. At the time my gym was only open from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the evenings. That's not the schedule for a full-time fighter.
"If you really want this, you have to go in and make it a lifestyle, and I brought that mentality back with me.
"It took me over a decade to align with Tyson and Rob, guys who are like-minded, want the belts and put the work in to get the belts.
"And you're seeing good team chemistry and what can happen when a group of people get together for a like-minded goal."
Kattar told Insider that internet rumors that he's from money are overplayed, and that his net worth isn't near a million … yet. His story, he said, may not be a rags to riches one, but it's hardly riches to stitches, either.
"People think I started with riches but that's not the case, it's definitely not the case. Maybe not rags, but I had to work for everything I had, and I've earned everything in front of me.
"If you Google me it says I'm worth a million, well … I'd like to see some of that damn money.
"I never wanted to have to fight for money, but I'd be lying if I said that wasn't a big part of the motivation at this point because it's life-changing money.
"I never had these opportunities to make the money I can through fighting, and am just trying to get things that I never had for me and the people I want to share them with.
"Now I have the opportunity to do that. These are big-moment fights, the paydays are getting there, and this is make-or-break."
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