Calvin Kattar isn’t calling foul on the judges at UFC Austin but he still believes he should be leaving his main event clash against Josh Emmett with a win rather than a split decision loss.
In a five-round back-and forth war, Kattar felt he did more damage round after round. That should have been enough for him to claim victory on the scorecards.
“”I thought that I was going to raise my hand at the end,” Kattar stated on UFC’s post-fight show. “I didn’t care, sometimes we give a s*** if it’s unanimous or a split. It was a fight I believed I won. Josh is an excellent fighter and a hard worker. Congrats to him and his team.”
On paper, each round was difficult to score with Kattar landing with volume and Emmett firing back with bigger power in many of the exchanges.
Kattar was best known for his lead jab, which connected continuously and eventually busted Emmett’s eye. In return, Emmett came after Kattar with knockout power behind almost every punch, which made the judges’ job that much harder when the final horn sounded.
” “Obviously, he has a lot power,” Kattar stated about Emmett. When you’re facing adversity you need to listen to the voice that tells you to shrink or to grow. I’m just trying to make it through this fight.
“Josh was a difficult task for a featherweight. Although I believed I had done enough, the judges were not so sure .”
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Because the fight was so close, Kattar never took his foot off the gas so he offers no excuses regarding his performance but that’s also why he felt like he did enough to secure the decision.
“There was never a point where I thought I could sit back but I thought I was edging him out definitely,” Kattar said. “Especially the longer the fight went. Fifth round, I thought I took it. I know he wanted me to stand in the center and bang but I mean that would be cool if I wasn’t up in the fight maybe.
“I thought I was landing the better shots but I’m not a judge. So it went the way it did but I thought I did enough to win the fight.”
Kattar was understandably disappointed by the result and still expressed his gratitude to Emmett for his victory. He plans to go home to watch the fight again to gain a better understanding of what happened that caused the loss.
“Just because I believed I was good enough to defeat a high-caliber opponent,” Kattar stated. Kattar said, “I just have to go back and check the tape. See what’s up, but I really had more questions than anything .”
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