UFC on ESPN 32: Kattar vs Chikadze - Card Preview - 01/15/22

UFC kicks off 2022 with a fight night card at the Apex Facility this Saturday, January 15th. We had a very rare extended hiatus over the holidays so it’s nice to be able to view some fistacuffs this weekend. This card is headlined by two striking specialists in Giga Chikadze and Calvin Kattar. It will be the one-year anniversary of Kattar’s near-death experience with Max Holloway, which was also the last time he saw action inside the cage. Despite the layoff, Kattar sits 5th in the featherweight standings. He welcomes Georgian kickboxing specialist, Giga Chikadze, who is undefeated in the UFC and has climbed the rankings to currently sit in the 8th spot. This promises to be a fun one and a great way to kick off the UFC in 2022.

Wish I could say the same for the rest of the card but it’s actually more or less what you’d expect from a fight night affair on any given weekend. A small pile of matchups have been scrapped so this one is pretty compact (which isn't necessarily a bad thing). Brandon Royval and Rogerio Bontorin look like it will be your top action fight on the main card besides the main event. The lineup is still going through some changes but as of today’s writing it looks like the below:

Main Card

Calvin Kattar vs. Giga Chikadze

Katlyn Chookagian vs. Jennifer Maia

Brandon Royval vs. Rogério Bontorin

Jake Collier vs. Chase Sherman

Bill Algeo vs. Joanderson Brito

Preliminary Card

Court McGee vs. Ramiz Brahimaj

Gabriel Benítez vs. T.J. Brown

Dakota Bush vs. Viacheslav Borshchev

Brian Kelleher vs. Saidyokub Kakhramonov

Silvana Gomez Juarez vs. Vanessa Demopoulos

Jamie Pickett vs. Joseph Holmes