The first UFC event of 2022 saw Calvin Kattar claim an emphatic unanimous decision win over Giga Chikadze in the featherweight main event of a Fight Night at the APEX Facility in Las Vegas on Sunday morning.
The judges scored the fight 50-44, 50-45 and 50-45 in favour of ‘The Boston Finisher’, who put in arguably his strongest showing since moving to the UFC in 2017 and took his career record to 23-5.
Kattar’s last UFC appearance a year ago ended in a UD defeat at the hands of Max Holloway in which he took an absolute beating from ‘Blessed’. This time around, he was very much the dominant force, surviving an early storm from Chikadze in the opening minutes before going on to dominate the next four-and-a-half rounds with his relentless striking.
“Bittersweet — feel like sh*t but also never been better,” Kattar said when reacting to his win. “I feel great. Giga’s a tough fighter.
“They all counted me out this fight. Everybody. Like I’ve been saying, it ain’t everybody that’s counting you, it don’t matter about them, as long as you believe in yourself. That’s all that matters.”
The co-main event saw Jake Collier return to winning form with a first-round submission (via a rear-naked choke) of Chase Sherman, who has now lost three fights on the bounce.
“Don’t let it go to the judges,” Collier said after the win. “I just wanted to come out and kill.”
The victor then turned his attention to a former UFC heavyweight champion while also answering a call-out from fellow heavyweight Justin Tafa on social media.
“[Andrei] Arlovski and Sherman had a war and I just smoked him in the first round,” Collier said. “Why don’t you give me that old dog?
“If [Justin Tafa] can make weight, that would be cool. Let’s get it on, big man.”
The main card opened with Bill Algeo defeating Joanderson Brito via unanimous decision in the featherweight division, followed by Viacheslav Borshchev scoring a technical knockout win over fellow lightweight Dakota Bush, Katlyn Chookagian outpointing Jennifer Maia in the women’s flyweight category, and Brandon Royval claiming a split decision triumph over Rogerio Bontorin in another flyweight clash.
The next event is UFC 270, which will be held at the Honda Centre in Anaheim, California on the morning of Sunday 23 January. It will be headlined by a bout for the heavyweight championship between Francis Ngannou and Ciryl Gane.
UFC Fight Night: Kattar v Chikadze – Main card results
- Main event: Featherweight: Calvin Kattar def. Giga Chikadze via unanimous decision (50-45 50-45 50-44), R5, 5:00
- Heavyweight: Jake Collier def. Chase Sherman via submission (rear-naked choke), R1, 2:26
- Flyweight: Brandon Royval def. Rogerio Bontorin via split decision (29-28 28-29 29-28), R3, 5:00
- Women’s flyweight: Katlyn Chookagian def. Jennifer Maia via unanimous decision (30-27 30-27 30-27), R3, 5:00
- Lightweight: Viacheslav Borshchev def. Dakota Bush via TKO (punches), R1, 3:47
- Featherweight: Bill Algeo def. Joanderson Brito via unanimous decision (30-27 39-28 29-28), R3, 5:00