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Ingrained with Grit: Calvin Kattar Ready For What Lies Ahead

“I was only pinned one time in high school wrestling and the ref called it standing up,” Kattar recalls. “I was a freshman. I'll never forget it. That lazy ref didn't get on his hands and knees to check for the pin. I'm telling you, I had my shoulder up and that was such bulls**t.”

Kattar, the sixth-ranked featherweight in the world, laughs, knowing how it sounds for him to refer to something that happened nearly 20 years ago before he headlines the UFC’s first event on ABC this weekend against former world champion Max Holloway.