The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) has been on hiatus for two years now, and despite Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) President Dana White teasing its pending return, nothing is concrete when it comes the revival of the mixed martial arts (MMA) “reality” television show.
If and when it does return, Tyson Chartier — head coach of Calvin Kattar — wants “The Boston Finisher” to get a coaching spot against former Featherweight champion, Max Holloway. Of course, if Chartier and Kattar had their way they would lock down a fight against “Blessed” without TUF, but are willing to play ball either way.
“Wishful thinking, perfect plan he fights Max this fall. Backup to that is if Max isn’t ready, we are really just going to be bugging UFC if they do the Ultimate Fighter and we coach against Max and then fight him after that,” he said on The Schmozone Podcast. “Dana said a couple weeks that it was coming back and soon, so it makes sense. Calvin is the hottest prospect in the division, he’s the most active and has the most wins in the Top 10 since 2019.
“The most knockouts since he’s joined UFC in the division,” he continued. “Max is the G.O.A.T., so why not build a big fight between the biggest prospect and the GOAT of the division and the winner gets a title shot.”
As it stands, Brian Ortega and Chan Sung Jung are in line to face off at an upcoming UFC “Fight Night” event on Oct. 17, 2020, with the winner getting a shot at division king, Alexander Volkanovski, who owns back-to-back wins over Holloway.
In the meantime, it isn’t a bad idea to have Kattar and Max throw down to see who gets next. Kattar has won two straight over Dan Ige and Jeremy Stephens (see it here), and has gone 4-1 in his last five outings with his lone loss coming at the hands of Zabit Magomedsharipov. That being said, “Zabeast” is also looking to make a case for a title shot if he can take out Yair Rodriguez, a fight that is in talks to go down at UFC 254 on Oct. 24, 2020.
Either way, it seems business is really starting to pick up in the talent-rich Featherweight division.
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