Calvin Kattar is down but certainly not out.
The New England native suffered a unanimous decision loss to Max Holloway this past weekend in a Fight of the Night effort as the main event at UFC Fight Island 7 in Abu Dhabi.
Despite absorbing over 400 significant strikes over five rounds, Kattar refused to go away and he was still swinging at the former featherweight champion with everything in his arsenal until the final bell. Afterwards, UFC president Dana White insisted that Kattar get rushed to a medical facility for precautionary reasons rather than stick around to speak to the media following the fight.
Now for the first time since Saturday, Kattar has broken his silence with a statement issued on Instagram.
“Success in life comes when you simply refuse to give up,” Kattar wrote. “With goals so strong that obstacles, failure and loss only act as motivation.
“Props to Max on a hell of a fight he deserves all the praise. Thankful for my team’s commitment for this fight. On to the next. There is no stopping the man who doesn’t quit.”
Kattar definitely deserves a ton of praise for his unwillingness to wither in the face of tremendous pressure from Holloway, who’s output and strikes landed both set new records inside the UFC octagon.
While he came up short on the scorecards, Kattar was constantly trying to stage a comeback while launching shots at Holloway during the rare moments when the Hawaiian wasn’t moving forward with five and six strike combinations.
In the end, Kattar’s two fight win streak came to an end but he left the octagon with Holloway’s respect and the admiration of fans across the globe who commended him on his toughness to survive that kind of onslaught for five rounds.
Kattar will go home with an extra $50,000 bonus for his part in the Fight of the Night as he looks to bounce back from this loss when he eventually makes his return to action.