Calvin Kattar and the Perpetual Chip on His Shoulder

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UFC 238 will serve as the latest proving ground for Calvin Kattar, as the 12-year veteran attempts to rise further in the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s featherweight rankings with a win over Ricardo Lamas on Saturday at the United Center in Chicago. Kattar, it seems, never seems to lack motivation.

“They call Ricardo Lamas ‘The Bully,’” he told Sherdog.com. “I haven’t been bullied a day in my life.”

The Massachusetts native heads into his bout feeling like he has something to prove, despite the fact that he owns a 19-3 career record and has lost only once -- he dropped a unanimous decision to Renato Carneiro -- since 2011. Why? Kattar does not believe the UFC was sold on his long-term trajectory until recently.

After winning his first two fights in the organization against fellow up-and-comers Andre Fili and Shane Burgos, his UFC 223 loss to Carneiro had promotion officials pumping the brakes on the idea of a new contract for the 31-year-old. Instead, Kattar claims the company wanted him to prove he could rebound from the setback before offering him a deal. He took the news as a slight, as he was annoyed by the idea that his place on the roster was not secure. That it had taken Kattar nearly a decade to reach the UFC only added to his irritation.

“The chip on [my] shoulder was [because] I didn’t get re-signed,” he said. “I’ve been 12 years in the game and I’m just getting my shot now, and all of a sudden, what, it’s over? [Expletive] that. It was just too early for me to get sent home.”

Kattar in October felt emboldened to show UFC officials he was deserving of their attention and aimed to prove it at the expense of Englishman Chris Fishgold. In their short UFC Fight Night 138 scrap, Fishgold did his best to make Kattar earn inch of ground he gained. Early in the fight, Fishgold landed some strong shots on his opponent and seemed to hurt Kattar a few minutes into Round 1. Yet, the EliteXC alum claims he retained his faculties throughout the match and believes Fishgold may have wasted much of his energy trying to flurry on a him as he weathered the storm.

“He thought he hit me better than he did,” Kattar said. “Probably surprised himself, but I was cool, calm and collected. I felt like he blew his load in that first round and really didn’t save enough in the gas tank after that.”

Although Kattar may be new to the UFC scene, he is not a young prospect still earning valuable cage experience. The 22-fight veteran has seen much during his time in the sport, which was exactly why he managed to stay poised -- he called it “controlling the chaos” -- as Fishgold attempted his onslaught of heavy punches.

“It might surprise a lot of people, [but] I’m not a rookie. I’ve gotten in the rounds,” Kattar said. “When a guy is coming at you like that [with] reckless abandon, you just kind of have to be patient, wait it out. In war, you don’t star freaking out when they’re throwing stuff at you. You breathe [and] make an educated decision. You look down your scope [and] you pull the trigger, and that’s what we did.”

Kattar’s scope was a range-finding left jab he started to land more often midway through the round. That jab led to his pulling the trigger on a 1-2 combination that ended with an overhand right. The shot floored the former Cage Warriors Fighting Championship featherweight titleholder and precipitated a technical knockout victory for Kattar with 49 seconds left in Round 1. The first-round stoppage -- Kattar’s first since 2010 -- cleared the way for him to land a brand-new contract and his next notable fight.

The Chicago-born Lamas been a consistent name in the Top 15 at 145 pounds since his days of competing for World Extreme Cagefighting. He has beaten some of the best featherweights of the last decade and earned championship opportunities against both Jose Aldo and Max Holloway. Kattar despite Lamas’ resume does not feel any added excitement or anxiety ahead of this test, not because he lacks respect for what Lamas has accomplished during his career but because he has been competing in the division even longer than his opponent. Kattar was already 3-0 when Lamas made his professional debut in 2008. Kattar may not have been on the main stage for as long, but he still views Lamas as a contemporary, not an idol.

“The stage always gets bigger, but I am running on 100 no matter who I am going against [at] any given time,” Kattar said. “It could be someone on the street. If they’re [expletive] with me, they’re going to get the best Calvin Kattar they ever imagined.”

Kattar’s motivation is less about beating Lamas the fighter and more about adding his name to the list of talented featherweights who have upended the 26-fight veteran during his 11-year career, fighters like Aldo, Holloway, Mirsad Bektic, Josh Emmett and Chad Mendes. He wants to establish himself as a consistent force at 145 pounds, just like Lamas had done more than a decade ago.

“This is my turn,” Kattar said. “He’s fought a lot of tough guys in the division. And the guys he’s lost to? That’s the group I want my name to be in. I don’t want my name on the list of guys he’s beaten. This is what I’ve been waiting for my whole career. I want to show these guys I belong with the best in the division.”

With a new contract in tow and a big fight in front of him, the question remains: What will serve as the next chip on Kattar’s shoulder and drive his motivation to beat Lamas? He does not foresee any trouble in finding something different to “piss me off” in this pivotal showdown.

“The best [fighters] find a chip on their shoulder no matter what,” Kattar said. “There’s always something to be pissed off about. There’s always going to be something that’s going to drive you. They think Ricardo Lamas is going to take me out. It’s really about proving to myself that I can beat these guys. I’m trying to change my life one fight at a time, to level up.”

A convincing win has the potential to move Kattar into the Top 10 at 145 pounds, though he does not put much thought into the UFC’s rankings.

“We all know rankings are [just that] -- rankings,” he said. “They don’t really mean too much. The rankings are just what other people think. That’s not really for me to focus on. Maybe another fighter that cares about that type of s--- pays attention to it. For me, my job’s to go out and beat everybody they put in front of me. I try not to get too hung up on rankings. As that list gets smaller, yeah, maybe I’ll bitch a little more as it dwindles down and [show] why I want to be at the top.”