One of the US' best MMA coaches has vowed to make 2021 a coming-out party for his 2 top tier fighters

• MMA has an upstart fighting firm making waves in the UFC.
• The New England Cartel is a two-strong fighter team run by one of 2020's coaches of the year Tyson Chartier.
• Chartier trains and is the agent to the UFC's No.6 featherweight Calvin Kattar, who fights Max Holloway on Saturday, and the No.5 bantamweight Rob Font.
• Despite the team's success last year, Chartier told Insider this week that his work is by no means done and he wants title fights for both his guys in 2021.
• Should Chartier continue to oversee wins for Kattar and Font, he'll no doubt be named coach of the year in 2021, too.

FIGHT ISLAND - Tyson Chartier, one of America's best MMA coaches, has vowed to make 2021 a coming-out party for his two top-tier fighters.

Chartier runs the New England Cartel, a fighting group that has prominent athletes like the UFC's No.6 featherweight Calvin Kattar and No.5 bantamweight Rob Font competing under its banner.

Kattar headlines Saturday's UFC Fight Night: Holloway vs. Kattar event that is broadcast on ABC from the newly-built Etihad Arena on Fight Island in Abu Dhabi.

Should he upset the former UFC champion Holloway, Chartier's elite striker could be thrust into a title shot.

But he's not the only New England fighter looking to secure championship status this year, as Font - who is riding a three-fight win streak - is also gunning for a title shot, a title, and then defenses in the 135-pound weight class.

"It's validating for all the hard work they've put in, and we've put in as a team," Chartier told Insider at the fighter hotel this week.

"You tell us we can't do something, we're going to double down and figure out how to do it. That's our team mentality. We put our heads together and slay these giants because we're the bad news guys of MMA.

"2021 can be a huge year for us," he said.

Like Font, Kattar is also on a hot streak.

The 32-year-old busted Jeremy Stephens' nose open with a brutal elbow strike knockout in Florida, before out-pointing Dan Ige in a five-round war at the first series of Fight Island events in July.

Though he is an underdog against Holloway, the New England Cartel is only thinking about winning, so it can target the champion in the 145-pound division - Alexander Volkanovski.

"We're not thinking small … we're thinking belts," Chartier said. "Our ultimate goal is not just winning belts, but defending them.

It is a place Kattar, Font, and Chartier have been steadily building toward as a team for years.

Font told Insider: "It's what we've been working for and envisioning. Putting our heads down, putting in that work, and taking that work to the next level. Winning big fights in impressive fashion, entertaining fans, and being consistent."

Chartier was recently named one of the MMA coaches of the year in 2020 by MMA Junkie, and he'd no doubt replicate that success in 12 months' time should his two fighters follow through with their shared prophecies this year - by winning, in impressive fashion, all the way to the championships.

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