UFC on ABC: Holloway vs. Kattar
The poster for UFC on ABC: Holloway vs. Kattar
Promotion	Ultimate Fighting Championship
Date	January 16, 2021 (2021-01-16)
Venue	Etihad Arena
City	Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Attendance	2,000[1]
Event chronology
UFC Fight Night: Thompson vs. Neal UFC on ABC: Holloway vs. Kattar UFC on ESPN: Chiesa vs. Magny

UFC on ABC: Holloway vs. Kattar (also known asUFC on ABC 1 andUFC Fight Island 7) was amixed martial arts event produced by theUltimate Fighting Championship that took place on January 16, 2021, at theEtihad Arena onYas Island,Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.^[2]

The main card marked the first time a mixed martial arts event was broadcast onABC. It also meant the UFC's first return to network television sinceUFC on Fox: Lee vs. Iaquinta 2 was broadcast onFox in December 2018.^[3]

After hosting nine eventsbehind closed doors at thedu Forum amid theCOVID-19 pandemic, the UFC made its debut at the newly builtEtihad Arena. A limited number of fans were allowed inside the venue, marking the first time sinceUFC 248 in March 2020 that non-essential event personnel were in attendance.^[4] The venue has maximum capacity of over 18,000, but the UFC is expecting to have closer to 2,000 fans for each of the Fight Island's events during the week.^[5]

A featherweight bout between formerUFC Featherweight ChampionMax Holloway andCalvin Kattar served as the event headliner.^[6]

A bantamweight bout betweenRicky Simon andBrian Kelleher was initially scheduled to take place atUFC Fight Night: Overeem vs. Sakai, but Simon's cornermantested positive for COVID-19 and he was forced to withdraw from the event.^[7] The pairing was then rescheduled for this event.^[8] In turn, Kelleher also tested positive on January 1 and was pulled from the bout.^[9] He was replaced by newcomer Gaetano Pirrello and the bout took place four days later atUFC on ESPN: Chiesa vs. Magny.^[10]

A women's bantamweight bout between formerUFC Women's Bantamweight Championship challengerBethe Correia andWu Yanan was expected to take place atUFC on ESPN: Hermansson vs. Vettori.^[11] However, due tovisa issues, they were rescheduled for this event.^[12] In turn, Correia had to pull out on January 5 due toappendicitis, which required anappendectomy.^[13] She was replaced by promotional newcomerJoselyne Edwards.^[14]

Muslim Salikhov was scheduled to faceSantiago Ponzinibbio in a welterweight bout at the event.^[15] However, Salikhov pulled out of the bout in mid-December citing health issues after contractingCOVID-19.^[16] He was replaced byLi Jingliang.^[17]

A flyweight bout between formerUFC Flyweight Championship challengerTim Elliott (alsoThe Ultimate Fighter: Tournament of Champions flyweight winner) andJordan Espinosa was expected to take place at this event.^[18] However, Espinosa tested positive for COVID-19 in late December and the pairing was moved toUFC 259.^[19]

A women's bantamweight bout betweenThe Ultimate Fighter: Team Rousey vs. Team Tate bantamweight winnerJulianna Peña and former title challengerSara McMann (also2004 Olympic silver medalist in wrestling) was originally scheduled for this event before being pushed back a week later toUFC 257.^[20][21]

The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil 3 middleweight winnerWarlley Alves andChristian Aguilera were expected to meet in a welterweight bout.^[22] However, Aguilera pulled out in late December due to an injury.^[23] He was replaced by Mounir Lazzez and the pairing took place at UFC on ESPN: Chiesa vs. Magny.^[24]

A middleweight bout between five-timeBrazilian jiu-jitsu World ChampionRodolfo Vieira andAnthony Hernandez was expected to take place at this event.^[25] However, Hernandez pulled out due to a positive COVID-19 test and they were rescheduled forUFC 258.^[26]

A welterweight bout between formerWEC Welterweight Champion and former interimUFC Welterweight ChampionCarlos Condit andMatt Brown was originally booked for a planned January 30 event.^[27] After the UFC opted against holding a card on that date, they were then briefly rescheduled for UFC on ESPN: Chiesa vs. Magny.^[28] At last, they were booked for this event.^[29] The pairing has been previously cancelled as they were initially scheduled to meet atUFC on Fox: Johnson vs. Benavidez 2 in December 2013, but Brown pulled out due to an undisclosed injury.^[30] They were booked once again in April 2018 forUFC on Fox: Poirier vs. Gaethje, but Brown had to pull out a second time as he injured hisanterior cruciate ligament.^[31]

Sarah Moras was initially scheduled to faceVanessa Melo in a bantamweight bout atUFC on ESPN: Santos vs. Teixeira in November 2020, but it was eventually postponed to take place at this event due to Moras contractingCOVID-19.^[32][33]

A featherweight bout betweenNik Lentz andMike Grundy was scheduled for this event.^[34] However, a member of Grundy's team tested positive for COVID-19, hence Lentz was given a new opponent offMovsar Evloev who he will face at UFC 257 in a catchweight bout of 150 pounds.^[35][36]

During fight week, the UFC opted to move a middleweight bout betweenOmari Akhmedov andTom Breese to UFC on ESPN: Chiesa vs. Magny due to "COVID-19 related issues".^[36][37]

A few hours before the event, a middleweight bout between Phil Hawes and Nassourdine Imavov was scrapped due to undisclosed reasons.^[38]

After defending hisUFC Lightweight Championship atUFC 254 in October,Khabib Nurmagomedov immediately announced his retirement, citing his father's death from complications related to COVID-19 in last July as the main reason behind it.^[39] Despite his announcement, the title was never officially vacated as UFC PresidentDana White said several times that he believed Nurmagomedov would still fight again.^[40][41][42] A meeting between both of them to discuss the champion's future was then expected to happen this week during the organization's stint atFight Island, eventually taking place on January 15.^[43][44] The following day, White made an appearance live on ABC during the main card of this event and revealed the outcome of the meeting: the Russian left the door open to a potential return, depending on how the main and co-main event lightweights perform atUFC 257, while also praisingCharles Oliveira's performance atUFC 256.^[45][46]

^[47]

The following fighters received $50,000 bonuses.^[48]

• Fight of the Night: Max Holloway vs. Calvin Kattar
• Performance of the Night: Li Jingliang andAlessio Di Chirico

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• UFC on ABC
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