Veteran UFC featherweight contender Calvin Kattar will need to defend his spot in the rankings this year following a difficult period.
After a battering at the hands of Max Holloway, Kattar (23-8) kept his name close to the title picture in 2022 by being on the opposite end of a destructive display against Giga Chikadze.
But “The Boston Finisher” hasn’t had his hand raised since. He fell on the wrong side of a contentious split decision against Josh Emmett, lost to Arnold Allen after tearing his ACL mid-fight, and most recently failed to spoil Aljamain Sterling’s featherweight debut at UFC 300.
With that losing skid in mind, Kattar will unsurprisingly be fighting down the pecking order in 2025. And should plans come to fruition, that’ll seemingly be against the charging Youssef Zalal (16-5-1).
The fight was announced by Zalal during an appearance on the JAXXON Podcast.
Zalal exited the UFC in 2022 after going 0-3-1 across a four-fight run, in which he lost to Ilia Topuria, Seungwoo Choi, and Sean Woodson. But since working his way back with three wins on the regional scene, he’s been unstoppable.
The 28-year-old Moroccan went 3-0 under the UFC banner in 2024, submitting Billy Quarantillo, Jarno Errens, and Jack Shore to earn a shot at the rankings and the featherweight top 10.
With this addition, the current fights expected to take place at the UFC Fight Night on Feb. 15 are as follows:
- Jared Cannonier vs. Gregory Rodrigues (middleweight main event)
- Edson Barboza vs. Steve Garcia (featherweight)
- Calvin Kattar vs. Youssef Zalal (featherweight)
- Yuneisy Duben vs. Carli Judice (women’s flyweight)
- Ismael Bonfim vs. Nazim Sadykhov (lightweight)
- Gabriel Bonfim vs. Rinat Fakhretdinov (welterweight)
- Jose Delgado vs. Connor Matthews (featherweight)
- Billy Ray Goff vs. Nikolay Veretennikov (welterweight)
- Dylan Budka vs. Edmen Shahbazyan (middleweight)
- Vince Morales vs. Elijah Smith (bantamweight)
- Jesus Aguilar vs. Rafael Estevam (lightweight)
- Don’Tale Mayes vs. Valter Walker (heavyweight)
- Kaue Fernandes vs. Jared Gordon (lightweight)
