ABU DHABI:
Featherweight Max Holloway starred in one of the most lopsided main events in UFC history, as the 145-pounder delivered a record-setting beatdown of Calvin Kattar at UFC Fight Night on Saturday in Abu Dhabi.
Holloway landed a UFC-record 445 significant strikes, smashing the previous mark of 290 he set against Brian Ortega at UFC 231. Along with Kattar's career-best 133 significant strikes, the fight also set UFC records for combined significant strikes (578) and significant strike differential (312), according to the organization's statistics.
"He took everything -- the kitchen sink, a fire truck, an ambulance. I threw everything at him," Holloway said of Kattar. "I probably threw my mouthpiece at him at one point in there."
Holloway, who is ranked second in the world, dominated sixth-ranked Kattar via unanimous decision (50-43, 50-43, 50-42). Holloway, a former UFC featherweight champion, could be in line for a title shot against welterweight champion Alexander Volkanovski, who has beaten Holloway in two close bouts, according to UFC president Dana White.
The scorecards equaled the most lopsided in a five-round fight in UFC history, along with a bout between Rich Franklin and David Loiseau at UFC 58 in 2006. The 50-42 score was only the second ever in UFC history after Franklin-Loiseau.
Holloway improved to 18-6 in UFC and 22-6 overall, while Kattar fell to 6-3 in the UFC and 22-5 across all organizations.
In the co-main event, welterweight Carlos Condit improved to 32-13 with a unanimous decision over Matt Brown (24-18).
Condit landed 157 total strikes compared with 37 for Brown. Condit landed 39 of 88 significant strikes, while Brown connected on 28 of 37.
Condit won with scores of 30-27 across the judges' scorecards, improving his mark to 9-9 in UFC and 32-13 overall. Brown fell to 15-12 in UFC and 22-18 overall.
Welterweight Li Jingliang knocked out Santiago Ponzinibbio with a vicious left hook to the jaw at the 4:25 mark of the first round.
Jingliang improved to 9-4 in the UFC and 17-6 in his professional career. Ponzinibbio, who returned to the octagon for the first time in more than two years, fell to 9-2 in UFC and 27-3 in his career.
In a middleweight bout, Alessio Di Chirico decked Joaquin Buckley with a right kick to the head before pouncing with a series of punches to the face to end a fight that lasted just 2:12.
Di Chirico snapped a three-fight losing streak dating to June 2019 and improved to 3-5 in UFC and 12-5 across all organizations with his first TKO win since December 2017. Buckley fell to 2-2 in UFC and 12-4 overall after ending a two-fight winning streak that included wins over Impa Kasanganay and Jordan Wright.
Middleweight Punahele Soriano didn't need very long to improve to 2-0 in the UFC as his series of left hands to Dusko Todorovic ended their middleweight bout at the 4:48 mark of the opening round.
Soriano, who improved to 2-0 in UFC and 8-0 overall, dealt Todorovic (1-1 UFC, 10-1 overall) the first loss of his career.
Soriano pummeled Todorovic, as 30 of his 32 connected punches were deemed significant strikes. Todorovic fell to the canvas numerous times, prompting Herb Dean to call the fight.
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