UFC 300 Strive in opposition to Card Preview: Calvin Kattar Vs. Aljamain Sterling

Digital Author April 5, 2024

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Ragged UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling makes his featherweight debut in opposition to Calvin … [+] Kattar on the prelims of the UFC 300 fight card. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC)

Zuffa LLC

A old UFC champion switches weight divisions on the prelims of the UFC 300 fight card.

In that matchup, Aljamain Sterling, who lost his UFC bantamweight title to Sean O’Malley in August, strikes up to the featherweight division to face Calvin Kattar on the ESPN preliminary card of the historic fight card, which takes location on April 13 at T-Cell Arena in Las Vegas. Kattar is using a two-fight shedding trudge sooner than the matchup. He’s currently the No. 8 fighter in the loyal UFC featherweight rankings.

We ranking a deep dive into the featherweight matchup between Kattar and Sterling.

Careers

Calvin Kattar

Calvin Kattar (23-7) made his UFC debut in July 2017. Before that matchup reverse Andre Fili, Kattar had a 17-2 yarn and became coming off two decision victories below the CES banner. Kattar became a replacement fighter on that card, taking the situation of Choi Doo-ho, who withdrew from that fight the the same month. Kattar made the most of that various, beating Fili by decision.

Kattar became 6-2 with two “Strive in opposition to of the Night time” bonuses to his title when the UFC booked him in the supreme, and hardest, fight of his profession, a important match scrap in opposition to old UFC featherweight titleholder Max Holloway.

Holloway keep a yarn-environment beating on Kattar that night time, taking the unanimous decision by scores of 50-43, 50-43, and 50-42. The 36-three hundred and sixty five days-old is 1-2 since shedding to Holloway. He’s coming off a TKO loss resulting from a knee harm in opposition to Arnold Allen.

Aljamain Sterling

Aljamain Serling (23-4) had an 8-0 MMA yarn when he obtained the decision to fight for the UFC. Sterling became the CFFC bantamweight champ when the UFC tapped him to change an injured Bryan Caraway reverse Lucas Martins at UFC 170. That fight fell thru when Martins became injured. As an various, Sterling made his promotional debut in opposition to Cody Gibson on the prelims of that pay-per-watch card. Sterling won that contest by unanimous decision.

Sterling won his subsequent three fights prior to dropping support-to-support split choices to Bryan Caraway and Raphael Assuncao. He rebounded from these losses with two straight wins prior to shedding to Marlon Moraes by a vicious knockout.

Sterling returned from that loss and won five straight fights, earning a shot at UFC bantamweight champion Petr Yan in March 2021. That fight ended in controversy after Yan landed an illegal knee that left Sterling unable to proceed. The disqualification gave Sterling the 135-pound title, a belt he defended in April 2022 when he defeated Yan by the utilization of decision. Sterling defended his crown twice more, topping T.J. Dillashaw and Henry Cejudo prior to falling to O’Malley by the utilization of knockout at UFC 292

UFC 300 Making a bet Odds for Calvin Kattar vs. Aljamain Sterling

The old bantamweight titleholder is a -143 making a bet favourite on this matchup. Meanwhile, Kattar, who opened as the making a bet favourite in his past two scraps, both losses, is the +120 making a bet underdog at UFC 300.

Indispensable Stats

Kattar is four inches taller than Sterling, but he only has a one-accelerate reach help over the old UFC 135-pound kingpin.

Kattar is an brisk striker, touchdown 5.12 important strikes per minute, but he is no longer an lawful striker, connecting on lawful 39 percent of his attempted strikes. As far as protection, the Holloway loss may per chance skew some of Kattar’s numbers, but he absorbs 7.10 important strikes per minute on a defensive payment of 54 percent. Out of doors of Holloway, Kattar has outlanded his opponents in his past two fights to trail the distance. As for grappling, Kattar averages 0.42 takedowns per 15 minutes, with a takedown accuracy of 29 percent. His takedown protection is 91 percent, and he averages 0.1 submissions per 15 minutes.

Sterling is a tight striker, but he excels on the mat. He lands 4.73 important strikes with an accuracy of 52 percent. He will get tagged, on reasonable, 2.41 occasions per minute with a defensive payment of 58 percent. Sterling averages 1.97 takedowns per 15 minutes, with an accuracy of 24 percent. His takedown protection is 45 percent, and he picks up 0.8 submissions per 15 minutes of UFC action.