Calvin Kattar beat Dan Ige via unanimous decision in the featherweight main event at UFC Fight Night on Wednesday at Flash Forum in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
Here are six takeaways from the event.
Kattar is a title contender
If it wasn't already clear, Kattar's win over Ige solidified that he's in title contention at 145 pounds.
"The Boston Finisher" is riding a two-fight winning streak, and the only setback he's suffered in over two years is a narrow loss to top contender Zabit Magomedsharipov. Kattar is one of the most accurate strikers in the division and has knockout power. That combination has allowed him to pick up several big wins throughout his three-year stint in the Octagon, including stoppages of Jeremy Stephens and former title challenger Ricardo Lamas.
At this point, even if his name isn't quite as big, Kattar is right up there with Chan Sung Jung, Magomedsharipov, and Yair Rodriguez in the title picture. Kattar should be treated as a legitimate featherweight contender and is due for another big fight - perhaps a clash against former champion Max Holloway. With the division relatively wide open and no clear-cut challenger for champ Alexander Volkanovski, Kattar could find himself looking across from the Australian with one more victory.
Long live the flyweights
Tim Elliott and Ryan Benoit were the latest flyweights to show that getting rid of the division would've been a massive mistake.
The UFC almost did so a couple years ago, releasing a significant amount of its 125-pound talent. But the promotion ultimately chose to move forward with the weight class.
Elliott and Benoit put on a show for three rounds in the co-main event. Elliott has a bizarre style and got in Benoit's face, battering him with punches from all angles. Benoit is one of the division's hardest hitters and landed several blows that could've easily knocked Elliott out. The fight was very much back-and-forth on the feet.
On the ground, Elliott seemed to have a major advantage, but Benoit made things interesting and threatened with a kneebar late in the fight. No matter where the bout took place, it was full of action.
Whether they end in a decision or a finish, flyweight fights almost always deliver.
Rivera is back in the mix
Jimmie Rivera snapped a two-fight skid and earned his first win since September 2018 with a unanimous decision over Cody Stamann.
It wasn't the most exciting fight, but Rivera understandably did what he had to do to get the judges' nod.
"El Terror" seemed bound for contention when he came onto the UFC scene in 2015. Although he briefly proved that to be true after racking up five straight wins, he lost three of his next four bouts - albeit to tough competition - and several fighters jumped ahead of him in the bantamweight standings.
It'll be tough for Rivera to become a title contender again, because 135 pounds is one of the promotion's most stacked divisions. He's also already lost to some of the top contenders, including newly crowned champion Petr Yan and Aljamain Sterling, in recent years. But after handily beating Stamann, Rivera shouldn't be forgotten just yet.
Lazzez shows promise
Mounir Lazzez is someone to watch.
The UFC newcomer beat Abdul Razak Alhassan - who returned from a two-year layoff - in the main-card opener and the eventual "Fight of the Night."
Lazzez survived an early onslaught from Alhassan, who has ended all 10 of his professional wins in the first round. He blocked a lot of Alhassan's shots and ate some, too. The Dubai resident took over in the second half of the fight, piecing up his opponent with a variety of strikes, including devastating elbows and knees. Alhassan tired out and Lazzez kept going.
I'd like to see a few more fights from Lazzez before saying he's going to be a welterweight contender, as this was his Octagon debut and only his 11th pro bout, but it was definitely a great start. Alhassan was being pegged as a potential threat at 170 pounds himself, and Lazzez largely shut him down.
Chimaev has a bright future
Khamzat Chimaev had one of the most impressive UFC debuts in recent memory.
Chimaev's second-round submission of John Phillips was more than dominant. The resident of Sweden took control in the stand-up department at the beginning of the fight and quickly got Phillips to the mat, pummelling his outmatched foe with ground-and-pound.
It didn't take long for viewers to realize Phillips had no chance. One judge gave Chimaev the first round by a score of 10-7, which is almost unheard of in mixed martial arts. The other two judges had it 10-8, another uncommon score.
Chimaev locked in a D'Arce choke early in the second round and that was it. He called out former title challenger Donald Cerrone after his win, and while it's unlikely that fight will be made, I give props to the prospect for trying to call the shots and having a name ready.
Chimaev is already being compared to lightweight champion and No. 2-ranked pound-for-pound athlete Khabib Nurmagomedov. We'll need to see a lot more from the 7-0 fighter before claims that he's a future UFC champion are realistic. However, after that performance, I'm not exactly in a position to argue.
Gordon is unbreakable
Jared Gordon's journey to UFC Fight Night was insane.
In the weeks before his clash against Chris Fishgold on Wednesday, Gordon's fiancee suffered a miscarriage and tested positive for the coronavirus. Gordon battled a 102-degree fever but tested negative for the virus.
His entire coaching team then contracted COVID-19, forcing Gordon to travel to Abu Dhabi alone. He managed to find three people to corner him on short notice, including former training partner and longtime friend Paul Felder, a UFC lightweight contender who also commentated at the event.
After arriving in Abu Dhabi, Gordon thought the fight was off after one of his COVID-19 test results came back positive. But he received subsequent negative tests and was cleared to compete.
After all this, Gordon not only made it to the cage, but he also picked up a lopsided win in his return to featherweight. This potentially saved his UFC career, as he entered the bout with a 1-3 record in his past four outings.
Gordon was already known as one of the toughest fighters on the roster due to his recovery from a widely documented history of drug abuse. But on Wednesday, "Flash" established that he's truly unbreakable and that nothing will faze him.
