MMA Junkie analyst Dan Tom breaks down the UFC’s top bouts. Today, we look at the main event for UFC Fight Night 213.
UFC Fight Night 213 takes place Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The card streams on ESPN+.
Calvin Kattar (23-6 MMA, 7-4 UFC)
Staple info:
- Height: 5’11” Age: 34 Weight: 145 lbs. Reach: 72″
- Last fight: Decision loss to Josh Emmett (June 18, 2022)
- Camp: New England Cartel (Massachusetts)
- Stance/striking style: Orthodox/kickboxing
- Risk management: Good
Supplemental info:
+ Regional MMA titles
+ Wrestling base
+ Brazilian jiu-jitsu blue belt
+ 11 KO victories
+ 2 submission wins
+ 10 first-round finishes
+ KO Power
+ Good feints and footwork
+ Accurate shot selection
^ Works well off of left hand
+ Dangerous elbows in close
+ Solid wrestling ability
^ Defensively and offensively
+ Shows good grappling
^ Positional awareness and fundamentals
Arnold Allen (16-1 MMA, 9-0 UFC)
Staple info:
- Height: 5’8″ Age: 28 Weight: 145 lbs. Reach: 70″
- Last fight: TKO win over Dan Hooker (March 19, 2022)
- Camp: BKK Fighters (England)
- Stance/striking style: Southpaw/kickboxing
- Risk management: Good
Supplemental info:
+ Amateur boxing accolades
+ Amateur MMA titles
+ Brazilian jiu-jitsu purple belt
+ 6 KO victories
+ 4 submission wins
+ 4 first-round finishes
+ Solid boxing technique
^ Serviceable footwork, educated guard
+ Heavy left hand
^ Coming forward and off the counter
+ Strong inside the clinch
+ Improved wrestling ability
^ Defense and overall fundamentals
+ Good transitional grappler
^ Solid submissions and scrambles
Point of interest: Featherweight fisticuffs
The main event in Las Vegas features a fun matchup between two ranked featherweights who aren’t afraid to throw down in boxing range.
Quietly crafting his tools in and out of the regional scene for roughly a decade, Calvin Kattar stepped onto the UFC stage with some fundamentally sound striking and well-earned hype.
Whether he is coming forward or sticking and moving, Kattar does a great job of keeping his feet underneath him, occasionally shifting stances when he finds his groove. Typically working behind a high guard, Kattar maintains a solid shoulder and head position that helps him protect his chin from a lot of the big punches that come his way.
Kattar, who trains with a lot of pro boxers, also does well at diversifying his shot selection from a boxing perspective. From slipping offline to changing his level, he offers options that flow nicely to both the head and the body.
Wielding a stinging jab, Kattar will either use it to disrupt his opponent’s striking rhythms or allow it to help set up punishing uppercuts and crosses once establishing his range. Still, Kattar is not beyond being countered for his efforts and will need to be mindful of the heavy-handed Arnold Allen.
Stepping onto the scene as a bit of a sporadic action fighter, Allen has steadily been composing his game and building on to his boxing base.
Allen has always had potent hooks and crosses off of the counter, but now it is not uncommon to see the Englishman control range and set up his offense with sharp jabs and active feet. When feeling in stride, Allen will target the body with impunity, as well as attack the legs on occasion.
In fact, Allen has been incorporating kicks a lot more in the latest stretch of his career. Whether Allen is counter-balancing his kicks with quick punches off the same side or using his punches to set up blind-siding head kicks (a la his training partner, Leon Edwards), the 28-year-old has really begun to blossom as a fully-fledged southpaw threat.
That said, Allen’s footwork, albeit solid from a defensive standpoint, can require real estate that’s difficult to come by in the smaller cage of the UFC Apex. For that reason, we could be in for some closed-quarter combat.
Point of interest: Closed-quarter combat
Despite both men doing most of their work standing, I wouldn’t be surprised to see someone attempt to get the jump on the other within the grappling department this Saturday.
Kattar, for instance, comes from a wrestling base and has shown that he can hit opportunistic shots when needed (e.g. in his fights with Andre Fili and Giga Chikadze). And once the Massachusetts native gets his man to the floor, he demonstrates excellent positional awareness in regard to his hip positioning and ground striking.
Allen, however, has made measured improvements within the wrestling realm since his promotional debut.
Already strong in the clinch by nature, Allen has added some solid fundamentals to help strengthen his game over the years. Urgent in the underhook department, seldom will you see Allen settle for negative positions without swimming for underhooks of his own as he attempts to shuck and spin his opposition around.
Even when someone tries to attack his neck or back in transition, Allen has proven to be a solid scrambler who can safely find his way back to his feet. In fact, both men do well with getting back to their feet, making me think that ground exchanges may be short and sweet no matter who is initiating the takedown.
Nevertheless, Allen will still need to be mindful of not getting stuck clinching with his counterpart for too long should he fail to secure a shot or stable position.
Kattar, as we saw in his last outing inside the Apex, is well-trained when it comes to the art of eight limbs. From wicked elbows in close to hard knees up the center, Kattar offers dangerous offense in closed quarters that Allen will need to show an answer for.
Point of interest: Odds and opinions
The oddsmakers initially opened the American as the favorite, but public money has flipped the line in favor of the English fighter, listing Allen -120 and Kattar +100 at Tipico Sportsbook.
Although I don’t disagree with Kattar opening as the favorite, this ultimately feels like a fight that should be placed at pick’em odds.
Allen may be undefeated under the UFC banner, but we still haven’t seen a whole lot of the Englishman (who has seldom fought more than once a calendar year since signing with the promotion). For that reason, I suggest leaving some room to be surprised by the southpaw this Saturday.
That said, I find myself slightly siding with Kattar in this spot.
Not only is the New England native the more proven product over five rounds (Allen appears to slow a bit come Round 3), but I also think the directionality of this contest could favor Kattar down the stretch.
Allen appears to be very comfortable moving laterally and hitting the occasional hard pivot to help turn out toward the center, I just wonder how taxing it will be for him to fight off of the backfoot against an experienced and durable opponent like Kattar come the fourth and fifth frames.
I’ll definitely leave the door open for Allen’s southpaw savvy to rule supreme in this spot (especially since we’ve yet to see Kattar against a dedicated lefty at this level), but I liked what I saw from Kattar whenever Giga Chikadze struck with him from that stance. Allen is obviously a more slick boxer with a different style, I’m just not sure that he can repeat his last performance in regards to aggressively closing the distance on a longer fighter.
I’m really looking forward to seeing more of Allen’s game this weekend, but the official pick is Kattar to extend exchanges and land elbows in close in order to pull away on the scorecards down the stretch.
Prediction: Kattar by decision
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 213.
