Exclusive | Calvin Kattar reflects on losing to losing to Josh Emmett via split decision: “I out-struck him 30 plus strikes”
UFC featherweight, Calvin Kattar says that the Josh Emmett loss is behind him now, but it is still a hard pill to swallow.
UFC Fight Night Austin was host to a closely contested main event between Calvin Kattar and Josh Emmet. The bout would go all five rounds with the pair trading strikes throughout the contest. The close fought nature of the bout was evident in the end result, as Emmett won via a split-decision.
This result came with some backlash, as many felt Kattar had done enough to earn the nod.
Talking to LowKickMMA.com, Kattar explained that he while the loss is in the past, it’s not just the loss on his record, but the finical hit he had to take.
“Yeah I mean Chris Lee as a judge,” Kattar began. “That was something we weren’t really prepared for, I don’t really know what he was watching in that fourth round. But without seeming like too much of a complainer, all you can do is focus on what you can control and that’s all in the rear view at this point.“
“At the time I definitely felt that I had done enough. I think that people agree with me and I’m kind of sick of hearing it from everybody too, it sucks, we’re all in the same boat except I didn’t get my win-side money and that doesn’t come back.”
Kattar would add it wasn’t just a natural bias for his own performance, pointing to the statistics to bolster his claim.
“It hurts,” Kattar said. “Like you said, I’m not undefeated. It’s not like I’ve never lost a fight, I get what that feels like and it sucks. But to actually think you’ve done enough to win the fight. Emmett had 21 stitches in his left eye, I had no lacerations. I out-struck him 30 plus strikes, so even off a numbers standpoint, it’s a little tougher to swallow. You get half the money and felt like you did enough to win, let alone all the title qualifications that can go on the back end of it.“
