Kattar draws Garden spot
Will co-headline UFC event
A rising star in UFC, Medford’s Calvin Kattar will have an opportunity not only to fight in the octagon in front of a home crowd at the Garden, he will be a coheadliner at UFC Fight Night on Oct. 18.
“I’m just happy to be in a fight at all,” Kattar, a 31-yearold Methuen native, said. “I have a lot of people to prove wrong, and some people to prove right. That crowd is going to be surreal.”
UFC President Dana White said Tuesday that Kattar will compete in a featherweight bout against Zabit Magomedsharipov (17-1), who is considered one of the top prospects in the sport.
Originally from Russia and now training in New Jersey, Magomedsharipov has finished three of his five UFC opponents.
“They have a lot of hype behind him right now,” Kattar said. “They’ve built him up to be the next big thing, short notice upset of Fili in his debut at UFC 214 in July 2017.
Magomedsharipov presents his own set of obstacles for Kattar. A heavily hyped prospect, the 28-year-old fighter has earned plenty of attention in his brief UFC career, boasting a 5-0 record. Most recently, he earned a unanimous decision victory over Jeremy Stephens at UFC 235.
“He’s long and rangy, fiery, and throws a lot of flashy stuff,” Kattar said. “I have a great team around me, and I trust them and I trust in my preparation. Zabit is a tough kid, but me, in Boston … I’m coming ready.
“I plan to shock a lot of casuals and prove the hardcores right.”
Kattar said among his long-term goals is to add to Boston’s sporting legacy.
“This is titletown, man, the only thing missing is an MMA championship, and that’s what we’re trying to bring to the area,” Kattar said.
“(The belt) would look good around my waist, no doubt,” Kattar added, “but you really have to train yourself to have a Bill Belichick mindset. It’s on to Zabit.”
In addition to Kattar-Mag-omedsharipov, the other headliner for UFC’s Boston show is a light heavyweight fight between Chris Weidman (14-4) and Dominick Reyes(11-0). The fight is slated to be Weidman’s debut at that weight class.