Getting met with a chorus of boos from heckling strangers is not an experience that anybody enjoys, much less anticipates with delight. Well, anybody but Calvin Kattar.
This Saturday at UFC 238, Calvin Kattar (#15) will take on #10-ranked Ricardo Lamas inside the United Center in Lamas’s hometown of Chicago, Illinois, and Kattar is prepared to fight an opponent worthy of his ranking and the cheers. And the boos? Kattar is more than prepared for that as well: (Transcript via MMA Junkie):
“Awkwardly enough I’m pretty excited about it,” Kattar told MMA Junkie Radio. “I’ve never been to Chicago, and I got a bunch of people supporting me. As much as I’m looking forward to the boos, I might be hearing some cheers as well. We pack the house. You know how the Boston crowd does.”
But outside noise aside, Calvin Kattar knows that all that matters in terms of wins and losses are the two men inside the Octagon who will be slinging leather, and Lamas has proven to be pretty good at that:
“I have a lot of respect for what the guy has done in the sport,” Kattar said of Lamas. “I’m excited to test myself against a guy who has fought for the title and is a top contender, just to show where I stack up in the division against a guy who calls himself the best.”
Ricardo Lamas’s last outing concluded with his arm raised at the expense of Darren Elkins last November. Calvin Kattar is also coming off of a victory, defeating Chris Fishgold via TKO in the first round. Kattar has only one UFC loss in four fights, so Ricardo Lamas would be wise to return the respect shown to him by Kattar, whether or not his hometown crowd follows his lead.
What is your prediction for this featherweight bout? Will Calvin Kattar silence the Chicago crowd or will Ricardo Lamas give them cause to erupt?
