Calvin
Kattar and Giga
Chikadze delivered in the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s
first main event of 2022.
Kattar and Chikadze received “Fight of the Night” honors and
$50,000 apiece for a five-round slugfest at
UFC on ESPN 32 on Saturday night at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
While Chikadze was game throughout the fight, it was Kattar who
consistently delivered the bout’s most significant blows with a
variety of punches to the head and standing elbows. When the dust
settled, Chikadze was left bloodied and battered, while “The Boston
Finisher” emerged with a unanimous decision triumph.
Elsewhere, converted heavyweight Jake
Collier garnered a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” award by
making short work of Chase
Sherman in the co-main event. The former Resurrection Fighting
Alliance champion tripped his foe to the floor, moved to full mount
and landed some damaging elbows to the head of his opponent. From
there, he took Sherman’s back and secured the fight-ending
rear-naked choke at the 2:26 mark of Round 1.
Finally, Dana White’s Contender Series alum Viacheslav
Borshchev captured the evening’s other $50,000 “Performance of
the Night” check by virtue of a first-round stoppage of Dakota Bush
at lightweight. Borshchev made a strong impression in his Octagon
debut, as he crumbled his opponent with a right hook to the ribs
and sealed his victory with a barrage of hammerfists from above
3:47 into the opening stanza.