LAS VEGAS – Calvin Kattar has thought about his most recent loss ad nauseam.
Poof, half of his paycheck gone just like that – for a June split decision loss to Josh Emmett that Kattar (23-6 MMA, 7-4 UFC) wholeheartedly thinks the judges got wrong.
Kattar has his next challenge Saturday in the form of Arnold Allen (16-1 MMA, 9-0 UFC) and at a UFC Fight Night 213 news conference he explained how he’s turned his attention away from controversy to refocus and move forward.
“Really the thing that we want to stress, not to go back too far and sound like a poor sport or anything like that, is we want accountability for the judges, things like that,” Kattar told MMA Junkie and other reporters. “That’s really it. We have a bad day in the office, we pay for it. Mistakes happen. It’s part of the game for everyone. There’s a human error involved in everything. We just want to see something in place with the commissions to hold some accountability to the judges who might have got it the wrong way. It’s important for the sport to move forward.”
The present reality is what’s inked in the record books isn’t going to change, despite inquiries from his team to the Texas commission. The decision won’t change, but maybe Kattar’s voice can contribute to the larger conversation about fixing potential judging inconsistencies and errors.
“The only thing that I’ve heard that really makes sense is, to me, that seems like a no-brainer is if one guy out of the three, or girl, whoever, sees something different that the other two, ‘All right. Well, what did you see?’ It’s just as simple as that,” Kattar said. “If you’re the one rogue judge that went the other way, then all right. Then, there’s a bunch of those instances where you’re going against two judges, what are you seeing all the time. That’s mainly the biggest thing: more accountability for what they saw when they went against the two other judges that are doing the same job they are.”
Coming to grips with the past, Kattar indicated the best way to prevent another controversial loss is to win more decisively this time around. His focus is solely on the task at hand and that’s Allen in a five-round main event at the UFC Apex.
“This sport is very humbling,” Kattar said. “It’s always, ‘on to the next,’ even after a win or a loss. We understand we’ve got a tough competitor ahead of us. To not give him my full focus would be a mistake. All hands on deck for this one. All the focus is on Arnold Allen.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 213.
