The UFC generally has no shortage of prospects at the lower weight-classes, and many of the most promising enter the promotion with attention on them from the start; without a pedigree coming in, it’s fairly difficult to make a name in a division as strong as bantamweight or lightweight or featherweight. As such, top contenders at those weight classes tend not to be all that surprising; every fighter has their doubters, but given the betting odds, the public as a whole wasn’t shocked that someone like Petr Yan (off a successful stint at ACB) ended up top-5. It was almost inevitable; Justin Gaethje and Marlon Moraes spent time as favorites before their debuts against top-5 opponents, notoriously difficult fighters to look good against, because they were championship-caliber and everyone knew it.

Calvin Kattar took the opposite track; he entered the promotion genuinely unknown, and there’s a good chance that he’d never have made it to the UFC save for a bit of luck. As it turned out, a regional talent known as “The Boston Finisher” (on a six-fight decision streak when the UFC came knocking) had more upside than the man he was replacing and the man he was facing; where Doo Ho Choi and Andre Fili have struggled to gain or maintain a number with their name, Kattar has earned a spot soundly inside the top 15 with a fraction of their longevity in the UFC, and his performances have only grown more impressive.

Slated against highly touted Dagestani Zabit Magomedsharipov at UFC Moscow, Kattar has an opportunity to enter the top 5; if he can get it done, Kattar will possess a 5-1 record in the UFC and extend his winstreak to three (two over ranked talent). Should he come away the victor, the immediate title scene has a compelling challenge waiting in the wings: not just a uniquely skilled competitor, but one with the offensive potency and the grit and toughness to be dangerous to anyone.

Touching Fili

Kattar debuted in the UFC on two-weeks notice, to fill a spot on a super-card against the tough and broadly-competent Andre Fili; while Kattar didn’t face the best version of the Californian (the one he’s hitting now), he was still an experienced foe on the world stage. Entering the UFC as a very promising prospect, Fili crossed paths with a future all-time great early in his career; Max Holloway was coming up at the same time, and while Fili made a decent account of himself, he became the second victim of a historic thirteen-fight streak that included the greatest fighter of all time. Since that fight, Fili had alternated wins and losses leading up to UFC 214, and met Kattar off a win over the decently-regarded Hacran Dias.

As such, Kattar was a +300 underdog; the public justifiably had no idea who he was, and while Fili had gotten posterized by both Yair Rodriguez and Godofredo Pepey, the short-notice replacement seemed like little more than a layup so Fili could get paid. Instead, it became a shutout in the opposite direction; Kattar boxed the ears off Fili, and sealed every round near the end.

Kattar essentially had two things to deal with in Fili, the jab and the southpaw-kicking game, and he generally did a better job with the first than the second. Fili found a bit of success working around the high-guard late in the fight as Kattar committed to pressuring, but Kattar skillfully shut down Fili’s attempts to jab or build off the jab. Part of it was just fundamentally sound defense, such as a high-guard and a good parry: