UFC fans called for Calvin Kattar to hang up the gloves after his fifth consecutive defeat against Steve Garcia.
Once praised by Joe Rogan as a potential future world champion, Calvin Kattar slumped to his fifth-straight defeat against the surging Steve Garcia at UFC Nashville last Saturday. Kattar, 37, struggled to deal with Garcia’s high-activity throughout their three-round fight en route to a unanimous decision defeat.
Max Holloway‘s former rival is in a peculiar spot in his UFC career amid his ongoing losing streak. Kattar hasn’t earned a win since defeating Giga Chikadze in January 2022.
Amid his recent struggles, many UFC fans took to social media to beg Kattar to bring his fighting career to an end following UFC Nashville.
Calvin Kattar says he broke his foot just minutes into UFC Nashville defeat
Kattar hasn’t looked the same inside the Octagon since a lopsided defeat to Holloway in January 2021. He took arguably the most punishment that any fighter has in UFC history against Holloway, as Holloway set several UFC records in their fight.
After several days of reflection, Kattar answered some of his biggest critics following his latest UFC setback.
In a recent Instagram post, Kattar broke his social media silence after his fifth-straight loss at UFC Nashville.
“Thankful for my family, team and those that came out or tuned in to the fight. Pushed through a lot just to get to the fight and even more when it started,” Kattar said.
“Broke my foot in the first round in two places but content that I was able to make it through to the end even though came up short. Congrats to my opponent on top 15, well earned.
“Time for some recovery.”
As of this writing, it’s uncertain when Kattar will return to the Octagon. Before UFC Nashville, Kattar lost to Youssef Zalal at UFC Vegas 102, and was accused of cheating by his opponent.
Kattar defeated the likes of Shane Burgos, Ricardo Lamas, and Jeremy Stephens earlier in his UFC career before his current losing streak.
Stephen Thompson called for judging ‘education’ after controversial loss at UFC Nashville
Kattar’s fellow UFC Nashville standout, Stephen Thompson, had some harsh criticism for the judges after his controversial loss to Gabriel Bonfim in the co-headliner. Many analysts and fellow fighters felt Thompson did enough to earn the win over Bonfim, but the former title challenger walked away with a split decision loss.
Thompson called for there to be more transparency and ‘education’ with the current MMA judging system in the UFC. The UFC doesn’t have any power to change how fights are officiated/judged, and commissions are charged with facilitating any significant overhauls.
Thompson is one of several top names to criticize MMA judges. UFC heavyweight contender Alexander Volkov called for a UFC 310 judge to ‘be fired’ following a questionable decision loss to Ciryl Gane.