Youssef Zalal wins four-straight since return, defeats Calvin Kattar in UFC Vegas 102 co-main event

The Ultimate Fighting Championship returns to us tonight, February 15, 2025, for UFC Vegas 102, going down live from the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Headlining the event is a middleweight encounter between no. 7 ranked former title challenger Jared Cannonier (17-8) and Gregory Rodrigues (16-5).

Co-headlining the UFC Vegas 102 event was a featherweight bout between no. 10 ranked Calvin Kattar (23-9) and Youssef Zalal (17-5-1).

Kattar came into tonight’s co-main event on a three-fight losing skid, suffering defeats to the likes of no. 8 ranked Josh Emmett (SD) in a razor thin five round decision, no. 7 ranked Arnold Allen (injury), and no. 9 ranked former UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling (UD).

Zalal on the other hand had won all three of his bouts since returning to the octagon in March of last year, having defeated the likes of Billy Quarantillo (rear naked choke), Jarno Errens (rear naked choke), and Jack Shore (arm-triangle choke), extending his win, and finish streaks both to six-straight.

Continue reading to see how our UFC Vegas 102 co-main event of the evening went down:

Official Result: Youssef Zalal def. Calvin Kattar via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

Kattar had a very timid opening round, Zalal picking him apart throughout most of it, mainly with his jab and cross. Kattar came alive toward the end of the round, pressuring Zalal in the final minute though he landed less than 10 strikes through the first five minutes.

Round two was much of the same, Zalal picking Kattar apart with his straight punches to the head and body, also adding in some good kicks and knees up the middle.

Kattar had a much better round three, walking Zalal down and landing more than he had all fight, also out-striking Zalal in this five-minute stretch, his most devastating strikes of the round being a heavy right elbow and shortly after an overhand right.

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Brady Ordway

I became a fan of combat sports when I was 12 years old. I was scrolling through the channels and landed upon Versus, where WEC was televised. Urijah Faber fought Jens Pulver for the second time that night. That's the first fight I ever saw, and I was immediately hooked. So eventually, I began covering the sport in the fourth quarter of 2018, and have since started writing about animals as well. If you'd like to see those pieces, be sure to check out learnaboutnature.com!

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