Calvin Kattar excited to surprise against Zabit Magomedsharipov in front of hometown fans

Kattar knows his hometown fans will be behind him, but he's ready to surprise the rest of the world in Boston.

Calvin Kattar got his wish, and will compete in front of his home crowd in Boston.

And he is looking forward to taking out the highly touted Zabit Magomedsharipov at UFC on ESPN 6, set to take place at TD Garden.

“They’re hyping this kid up to be the next title contender so a win over him, what are they going to say about me?” Kattar told MMA Junkie.

When Kattar steps into the cage on Oct. 18, it will be in the co-headlining spot, in front of his friends and family.

“I’m getting my hand raised either way, there’s no way I lose at TD Garden, hometown.”

There were initial talks of a potential Jeremy Stephens vs. Kattar fight, when Stephens pulled Kattar to the side during International Fight Week in July in Las Vegas, and tried to set up a fight with matchmaker Sean Shelby.

But that never came to fruition. Stephens ended up being booked in the headliner for UFC on ESPN +17 in Mexico City vs. Yair Rodriguez, whereas Kattar drew Magomedsharipov.

And Kattar believes he may have gotten the better end of the deal.

“It was really kind of Stephens trying to take the fight with me,” Kattar said. “And he saw an opportunity to try and get a high spot on the card with a kid from Boston coming up, but for me it didn’t matter. He was a higher-ranked guy, so it’s always a good thing when you get a higher ranked guy calling you out and it was his plans but apparently it wasn’t Sean Shelby’s or the UFC’s and they gave me the guy that just recently beat him which works better for me.”

Kattar (20-3 UFC, 4-1 MMA) is coming off a knockout over former featherweight title challenger Ricardo Lamas at UFC 238. He will look to ride that momentum when he takes on Magomedsharipov (17-1 MMA, 5-0 UFC), one of the most exciting young talents in the sport.

“He’s fun to watch, he’s exciting, throws fun stuff,” Kattar said. “Stuff that I probably want to do but I’d get yelled at by my coach if I did it but it should make for a good fight. No one’s been able to take him out yet in the UFC and I see it as a big opportunity for me to go out and surprise a lot of people, get some (expletive) out of their seats, put on a hell of a show and what better place to do it than at TD Garden.”

“I’m excited to go out and test myself against another high-caliber fighter and keep continuing to take out the guys that call themselves the best in the division.”

As soon as the UFC announced that they’re heading to Boston, Kattar called for the headlining spot. He ended up losing out to Chris Weidman vs. Dominick Reyes, but says Oct. 18 will feel like the main event to him.

“I’m just happy to fight at home and co-main is whatever you know,” Kattar said. “I think as exciting as Weidman’s fight is going to be, I think I’ll be the people from Boston’s main event. I got a lot of people coming out and they’re excited to see it and I’m excited to put on a show.”