Breaking: Former UFC champ Max Holloway booked for January return opposite Calvin Kattar

Former UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway has been booked for a January return to the Octagon opposite surging featherweight contender Calvin Kattar.

The UFC announced this dynamite featherweight scrap on social media on Tuesday.

The Blessed Express returns!

🚂 @BlessedMMA meets @CalvinKattar in the main event of Jan 16! pic.twitter.com/1x2aZaQLF1

— UFC (@ufc) November 17, 2020

Max Holloway is widely regarded as one of the greatest featherweights in MMA history. After a rise to title contention that saw him defeat the likes of Andre Fili, Cub Swanson, Charles Oliveira, Jeremy Stephens and Ricardo Lamas, he had his first brush with UFC gold in 2016, when he defeated Anthony Pettis by TKO to claim the promotion’s interim featherweight title.

In his next fight, Holloway then defeated the legendary Jose Aldo to become the undisputed featherweight champion. Next up, he defended the belt in a rematch with Aldo, against the then-unbeaten Brian Ortega and, after a lightweight loss to Dustin Poirier, against former UFC lightweight champ Frankie Edgar.

Unfortunately for Holloway and his dedicated fans, that’s where his time at the top came to an end. In December, 2019, the Hawaiian star was defeated by Alexander Volkanovski by decision. He was then granted an immediate rematch with Volkanovski, but failed to reclaim the title, losing a hotly debated split decision to the new champion.

He’ll look to rebound from those back-to-back decision loss to Volkanovski against Kattar, who has a ton of wind in his sails at the moment.

Kattar is riding back-to-back victories over Jeremy Stephens, who he knocked out in May, and Dan Ige, who he defeated by decision July. Other highlights of his impressive resume include wins over Ricardo Lamas, Shane Burgos, and Andre Fili. This bout with Holloway will be the biggest test of his career by far.

While the next crack at Volkanovski is expected to go to Brian Ortega, the winner of Holloway vs. Kattar fight will be well positioned for a potential title shot. Who do you think will come out on top in this matchup?