Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream the UFC live on
your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the
ESPN app. Just like he did in 2021, Ultimate Fighting Championship featherweight
Calvin
Kattar will headline the first show of 2022. On Friday,
MMA Junkie announced that Kattar (22-5) and Giga
Chikadze (14-2) is the current planned headliner for the UFC
Fight Night event on Jan. 15. This unnumbered event is expected to
be held inside the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, and this featherweight
marquee matchup has been agreed to but the contracts have not been
signed. Kattar’s manager, Tyson
Chartier, confirmed in an interview with MyMMANews on Friday that
Kattar had accepted a main event match in January.
Kattar has not fought since taking a hellacious beating at UFC on
ABC 1 that remains a top contender for Sherdog’s 2021 “Beatdown of
the Year” award, absorbing an unprecedented 445 significant strikes
from Max
Holloway. Before the one-sided loss, “The Boston Finisher”
racked up a pair of wins over Jeremy
Stephens and Dan Ige in
2020. Kattar has never strung together a win streak longer than two
since joining the promotion in 2017, winning two fights and then
losing the third by decision.
Chikadze has not suffered a defeat since his unsuccessful 2018
appearance on Dana White’s Contender Series against Austin
Springer. A pair of speedy victories on the
notorious Gladiator Challenge circuit springboarded him into
the UFC, where he took home a split decision win over Brandon
Davis. Three more decisions over Jamall
Emmers, Irwin
Rivera and Omar
Morales gave way to the current knockout stretch he is on. In
his last appearance, Chikadze outdueled Edson
Barboza, stopping the Brazilian with strikes in the first
round.
The first UFC event of the year will take place on Jan. 15 likely
at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. In addition to the Kattar-Chikadze
headliner, other key matchups include a flyweight tilt between
Brandon
Royval and Rogerio
Bontorin, as well as a welterweight clash between Court McGee
and Ramiz
Brahimaj.
