This past Saturday in the co-main event of UFC Vegas 102, we saw a matchup in the featherweight division featuring a fighter looking to break into the rankings and one who was looking to hold onto his spot. Calvin Kattar (23-9) was looking to turn around his recent stretch as he took on surging contender Youssef Zalal (17-5-1).
Zalal is in his second run with the UFC. After going winless in his final four fights of his first run, he was cut by the promotion. Three regional first round wins earned him a second chance and he hasn’t wasted it. He won his first three fights back by stoppage to earn this co-main event slot against Calvin Kattar.
Zalal had been very aggressive since making his return to the octagon, but he had a much different approach on Saturday night. While Kattar came forward in the first two rounds, he could catch Zalal. Zalal was beating him to the punch and ran up the score in terms of strikes landed. Nothing of consequence landed, but Zalal was up easily 2-0 heading into the third.
Kattar fought with a lot of urgency in the third round and he was the one who landed big shots. Zalal relied on his movement and really just tried to fight safe. He made it to the final bell and while he unanimously lost the final round, he unanimously won the co-main event at UFC Vegas 102.
What’s next after UFC Vegas 102?
This was a big win for Zalal and now he’s ranked 12th in the updated rankings that came out earlier today. Now it’ll be interesting to see what happens next with him. I don’t think his performance will earn him a shot against someone inside the top ten given the state of the top ten currently.
Instead, I think the UFC might look one spot behind him for his next fight. I could see Bryce Mitchell being the next opponent for Zalal. Yes, Mitchell has been in the news recently for some controversial comments, but he’s still ranked 13th in the featherweight division and he’s not going anywhere.
Mitchell is coming off a knockout win over Kron Gracie back in December and he’s 2-1 in his last three fights. Seems like a solid fight to make with the winner poised to challenge someone in the top ten next.