DUBAI: UFC Fight Island returned to Abu Dhabi for a third edition with Max Holloway delivering a stunning 50-43, 50-43, 50-42 win over Calvin Kattar at the newly opened Etihad Arena.

The Hawaiian-born American, the world鈥檚 No1-ranked Featherweight, has now set his sight on regaining the championship from current holder Alexander Volkanovski.

Watching UFC President Dana White paid tribute to Holloway and his sixth-ranked opponent from the US, as well as the rest of the line-up, which for the first time on Fight Island took place in front of a live audience.

鈥淚 knew this card was going to be special,鈥� he said. 鈥淗olloway is fun, and we've got to give Kattar some great credit. Khabib and I got together and he said to me 鈥業 want to see if someone really blows me away next weekend, then we'll see.鈥� Max looked incredible tonight. I don鈥檛 know if I鈥檇 call it his best performance, but he鈥檚 one of the all-time greats.鈥�

Meanwhile, the delighted winner of the headline bout is already looking ahead.

鈥淭hank you Abu Dhabi,鈥� said Holloway.

鈥淭hank you for keeping us safe and thank you to the fans for coming out. Make sure you tune in for UFC 257 next week. I'm staying on for it and it鈥檚 going to be great. Just blessed to have fans back, first card of the year, first event in Etihad Arena and I set some numbers. I had a chip on my shoulder tonight and I wanted to show that I鈥檓 one of the best boxers in MMA.鈥�

Just before the main event of the night, Carlos Condit had defeated Matt Brown via a unanimous decision in their Welterweight bout.

鈥淚 feel good,鈥� the 36-year-old American said after the win over his compatriot.

鈥淚 was stoked to get in there and finally face Matt. Standing across the cage from him was awesome. I had the hair standing up in the back of my neck, I was so stoked to get in there and get my hand raised. I鈥檓 very happy. I expected a little more back and forth on the feet, we ended up grappling quite a bit, but I鈥檓 not sad about the way that went because I got the better of those exchanges.鈥�

In what was named the Performance of the Night, Welterweight Li Jianglang of China defeated Santiago Ponzinibbio of Argentina via a TKO after 4:25 of round one.

鈥淚 landed a clean shot when he was in a defenseless position, there was no need to go after him,鈥� he said.

鈥淚f you are a true martial artist you don鈥檛 do that. I need to keep going now, show the fans what I鈥檓 capable of and go after the championship belt. Having fans back in the arena is a great step forward for 2021.鈥�

Before that, Alessio Di Chirico, who claimed another Performance of the Night award, recorded a TKO win over Joaquin Buckley after 2:13 of round one in their Middleweight bout.

The main card had kicked off with Punahele Soriano of Hawaii delivering the first UFC knockout of 2021 over Middleweight opponent Dusko Todorovic of Sebia in round one.

鈥淭he world lies ahead for me,鈥� he said.

鈥淚t feels really good to win this after a year off. It鈥檚 amazing being here, around the hotel at the pool. I was nervous coming into this fight undefeated, but I just had to keep focusing on winning. He was undefeated and is an amazing fighter so it was great to get it done. Getting the first finish of 2021 was amazing. I wanted to set the tone as the first on the main card and I did that. 

鈥淭his is my release, so it feels great to be back after a year off,鈥� Sorianio added.

鈥淪hows me I can get it done. I鈥檓 back to work on Monday and I鈥檓 looking forward. I envisioned going into work after winning a fight and fist pumping everyone - I can do that now.鈥�

The Prelims had seen Bantamweight Joselyne Edwards overcome Wu Yanan with a unanimous decision; Carlos Felipe defeat over Justin Tafa via a split decision in their Heavyweight bout; Ramazan Emeev beat David Zawada; and Vanessa Melo edged a split decision over Sarah Moras in their Women Bantamweight clash.

The night had kicked off with the first ever fight at Etihad Arena, which saw Austin Lingo beat Jacob Kilbum via split decision in their Featherweight bout.

鈥淚t鈥檚 awesome to be the first winner in the Etihad Arena,鈥� the winner said.

鈥淭hanks for letting me fight here. I love having fans in the stands and hearing them cheering, it鈥檚 great, it blew my mind. I鈥檝e seen my teammates fight with no crowd I鈥檝e got in there with fans, it was great. I love Fight Island, I鈥檒l come here to fight anytime. It鈥檚 great, the island, the venue, the hotel, all of it. 

鈥淚鈥檝e waited a long time for this,鈥� he added. 鈥淚 want to fight again soon, in a month. I鈥檓 tired of waiting. I鈥檒l come back to Abu Dhabi, I鈥檒l fight anywhere.鈥�

The triple-header Fight Island now moves on to its second night on Jan. 20, before wrapping with Conor McGregor鈥檚 highly-anticipated Lightweight clash with Dustin Poirier at UFC  257 on the 24th.

鈥淭he fans were awesome,鈥� White added. 鈥淭hey had so much energy. It sounded like there was more than there actually was. They went crazy at certain points and it was just so much fun. Very, very cool to have fight fans back.鈥�