A pair of top-10 featherweights are set to clash in the main event of UFC Vegas 63 on Saturday night when Calvin Kattar slings leather with Arnold Allen.
Kattar is a classic gatekeeper in the best sense of the word. He may never strap UFC gold around his waist, but he's an excellent, impossibly tough fighter who can hang with, and sometimes best, some of the top competitors in the division. In his last outing in June, “The Boston Finisher” dropped a razor-close split decision to fellow top-five 145-pounder Josh Emmett.
Despite actually being in the UFC for longer than Kattar, Allen's rise up the featherweight rankings has been a slow burn. The 28-year-old Englishman is 11-0 inside the Octagon, posting the biggest victory of his career at UFC 204 when he bludgeoned Dan Hooker with vicious standing elbows.
If Allen completely blitzes Kattar like he did Hooker, he'll likely put himself on the shortlist of potential challengers. If Kattar emerges with his hand raised, he'll hold onto his top-five spot.