Calvin Kattar’s Hype Train Has Already Left the Station
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For a man dubbed “The Boston Finisher,” competing at home in Massachusetts is a rare and special occasion. So, when that setting was changed to Moscow, Russia, some frustration is understandable. Especially since Calvin Kattar has doubts about the reasons for the change. Yet in the end, it may have worked out better. He will still face No. 5 ranked featherweight Zabit Magomedsharipov on Nov. 9, and he will now do so in the main event slot at UFC Fight Night 163 in the CSKA Arena.
Kattar is of course pleased to be in an Ultimate Fighting Championship main event. However, that does not mean the 31-year-old has gotten over the unusual scenario that caused that took him from a date in his home state, to an event half way around the world, and much closer to his opponent’s Dagestani roots.
“I had a lot of people that were unhappy. They paid a lot of money to see this fight. But all I can do is go to Russia and give them the fight they paid to see. The only thing that rubs me the wrong way is that it was supposedly a blood infection [incurred by Magomedsharipov]. Some kind of rare form that heals up in three weeks. So, he was able to compete in his hometown. To me it sounds like bulls***. But at the end of the day, I don’t get wrapped up in the specifics. It’s real cut and dry with me. Black and white. He doesn’t want to fight me in my hometown, I’ll go and fight him in front of his. At the end of the day I still got what I signed up for, which was a fight with Zabit.”
In this exclusive interview with Sherdog, the No. 11 ranked featherweight talked about his matchup with his Russian opponent and if the hype behind Magomedsharipov is real.
